Politics & Policy

The European Court of Human Rights today announced decisions on several high profile religious freedom cases involving the wearing of religious symbols. A recent study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life found that regulation of religious attire has increased around the world.

Recent deliberations in Washington have triggered a national debate about key elements of the social safety net. Why the U.S. invests relatively less in its social safety net than many other countries reflect Americans’ conflicted, partisan and often contradictory views on fairness, inequality, the role and responsibility of government and individuals in society and the efficacy of government action.

35% of U.S. adults have gone online to figure out a medical condition; of these, half followed up with a visit to a medical professional.

On Tuesday (January 15), the European Court of Human Rights is scheduled to announce decisions on several high profile religious freedom cases involving the United Kingdom. Two complaints claim British law inadequately protects employees’ right to display symbols of their religion in the workplace. The cases involve a British Airways employee and a nurse in […]

After a divisive presidential campaign that focused on such polarizing issues as economic class and immigration, a new Pew Research survey finds that the American public perceives less conflict between groups at the center of these debates now than before the campaign began. The survey finds that 58% of adults say there are “very strong” […]

The year ahead promises both challenges and opportunities for transatlantic relations. The next 12 months could prove to be consequential for both security and economic ties between Europe and the United States.

For decades, the public has sympathized more with Israel than the Palestinians in the Middle East conflict. However, the partisan gap in sympathies, while little changed in recent years, is as large as it has been in more than three decades of polling. Discussion of the U.S.-Israeli relationship is likely to come to the fore […]

Overview Barack Obama is viewed as the clear political winner in the fiscal cliff negotiations, but the legislation itself gets only a lukewarm reception from the public: As many disapprove as approve of the new tax legislation, and more say it will have a negative than positive impact on the federal budget deficit, the national […]

In 2013, downbeat domestic attitudes coupled with reticence about international engagement poses challenges for a world that still may need a strong United States.

Blacks voted at a higher rate this year than other minority groups and for the first time in history may also have voted at a higher rate than whites, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data, election day exit poll data and vote totals from selected cities and counties. Unlike other minority […]