Political Issues

Washington, D.C. The Pew Forum interviewed Katherine Marshall following a roundtable on religion and international development co-sponsored by the Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Marshall is the director of the Development Dialogue on Values and Ethics at the World Bank and a former country director in the World Bank’s Africa and East […]

Although a right to personal privacy is not mentioned in the Constitution, most judges and legal scholars acknowledge that a measure of privacy is essential to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. The exact extent of that privacy, however, is highly contested. Indeed, some of the most hotly debated high court decisions in U.S. […]

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life Washington, D.C. There is growing recognition of the increasingly important role religion plays in U.S. foreign policy, including decisions regarding development aid and humanitarian assistance. What role is religion playing in international development? How are domestic religious groups and faith-based organizations influencing U.S. development efforts overseas, particularly policies […]

Overall, about a quarter of all adults in this country say they always feel rushed, while a majority of Americans sometimes feel rushed and about a quarter almost never feel rushed.

Neither hawks nor doves, America's youth are more willing than their elders to give both war and peace a chance. A new poll analysis finds that generational differences on the use of force confound the stereotypes.

Some of us are happier than others, and this variance helps to paint a portrait of the kind of people Americans are. It also casts doubt on some of the famous wisdom on the subject.

On January 18, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a lower federal court had erred in striking down in its entirety a New Hampshire law requiring parental consent for minors seeking an abortion. The case, Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, involves a decision by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to […]

Summary of Findings Public concern over Iran’s nuclear program has risen dramatically in the past few months. Today, 27% of Americans cite Iran as the country that represents the greatest danger to the United States. In October, just 9% pointed to Iran as the biggest danger to the U.S., while there was far more concern […]

When President Bush delivered a strong warning against isolationism in his State of the Union address, he was speaking to a recent and dramatic turn in public opinion, indicated by Pew polling.

Summary of Findings As President Bush prepares for his Jan. 31 State of the Union address, the public remains skeptical that the economy is improving, in spite of recent positive signals. Overall, about a third of Americans (34%) rate economic conditions as excellent or good, while nearly twice that number say they are fair or […]