Political Issues

Email Sign Up Receive our weekly newsletter featuring new analysis on politics, social trends, religion, the media and more. Sign Up Now The Supreme Court today struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), saying in a 5-4 ruling that the federal government can’t disparage marriages recognized by the states. The Court also declined […]

Abortion opponents in the Texas state legislature have been busy this week trying to pass a bill aimed at banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The proposal, which passed the House on Monday, is now facing a Democratic filibuster in the state Senate. If the Senate approves it before the end of the legislative session at midnight and Republican Gov. Rick Perry (as promised) signs it, Texas would become the 13th state in recent years to enact such a restriction.

For nearly three decades researchers have known that better-educated adults are living increasingly longer than those with less education. (Kids: One more reason to stay in school.) Then in the mid-1980s a new trend emerged: The education-mortality gap began growing much faster among women than among men. By 2006, white women without a high school […]

Two Pew Research Center surveys -- one of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adults and the other of the American public -- found a common thread: that society as a whole has become more accepting of gays and lesbians.

Currently, 35% of Americans say the increase in gay and lesbian couples raising children is a bad thing, a decline from recent years.

Overview A new poll finds that the public is as interested in the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling on the Voting Rights Act as in its long-awaited decisions on same-sex marriage. Roughly a third of Americans (35% each) say they are very interested in both how the court will rule on whether parts of the Voting […]

Overview As the Senate works toward a compromise on immigration reform, the emerging proposal addresses two widely-held public goals. Broad majorities – across party lines – continue to support a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. And large majorities also say this legislation must include increased border security. But the public is divided on an […]

Last week, Sesame Street added a new character -- Alex, a child whose father is in prison. The new feature was meant to deal with the reality of a sharp increase in the number of incarcerated adults in the U.S.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule imminently on two laws seeking to block same-sex marriage -- the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8. Here's a summary of major findings related to the issue.