The Next America
America is in the midst of two major changes to its population: We are becoming majority non-white at the same time a record share is going gray. Explore these shifts in our new interactive data essay.
Gay marriage battle moves back to courts
A federal appeals court today will hear arguments in a constitutional challenge to Utah’s same-sex marriage ban – the first of five court challenges to state bans taking place over the next two weeks. This flurry of court activity comes on the heels of a number of other decisions striking down same-sex marriage bans in […]
What kinds of Supreme Court cases interest Americans? Not campaign finance
The public paid relatively little attention to last week's major Supreme Court ruling striking down campaign contribution limits, but other high-profile cases do get a lot of attention.
More Republicans See Health Care Stance as ‘Very Important’ to Midterm Vote
Survey Report In looking ahead to this fall’s elections, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to view a candidate’s position on the Affordable Care Act as very important to their vote. A new national survey finds that 64% of Republican registered voters say a candidate’s stance on the health care law will be very important […]
The Civil Rights Act at 50: Racial divides persist on how much progress has been made
A half century after passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act, a wide disparity persists between blacks and whites over how much progress has been made.
Asian American voter turnout lags behind other groups; some non-voters say they’re ‘too busy’
Asian-American voters lag whites and blacks in turnout in midterm elections, an analysis of Census Bureau data shows.
Data Feed: A decade of campaign ads, gender gaps on wages and jobs, outlook for global growth
A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers.
WashPost/Kaiser: Many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans bring home the burdens of war
Veterans returning from serving in Iraq or Afghanistan say they have found re-entering civilian life to be difficult. A significant share says they have experienced outbursts of anger in daily life. Others say their mental or emotional health is worse since their time in the service, or that they have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder.
Feds may be rethinking the drug war, but states have been leading the way
Faced with overcrowded prisons and soaring correctional costs, states are rethinking how to define and punish drug crimes.
America’s New Drug Policy Landscape
The public appears ready for a truce in the long-running war on drugs. A national survey by the Pew Research Center finds that 67% of Americans say that the government should focus more on providing treatment for those who use illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Just 26% think the government’s focus should be […]
