Political Issues

By Nicole Speulda and Mary McIntosh

Summary of Findings Public satisfaction with national conditions has fallen to 33%, its lowest level in eight years, in the wake of revelations of prisoner abuse committed by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. President Bush’s overall job approval rating also has dropped into negative territory: 44% approve of his job performance, while […]

10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Washington, D.C. Speakers: Gerard V. Bradley, professor of law at the University of Notre Dame; filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family in Lawrence and Garner v. Texas (2003), the Texas anti-sodomy law case Andrew Sullivan, senior editor […]

Summary of Findings President Bush’s approval ratings have improved over the month of April even as Americans continue to express strong concerns about Iraq and the way the president is handling that situation. The latest nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center finds 48% approving and 43% disapproving of Bush’s overall job performance. This is […]

Public divisions over access to abortion are long-standing, and have changed only slightly over the past two decades. Currently, 58% say they oppose making it more difficult for a woman to get an abortion, while 36% are in favor of further restrictions. This is virtually unchanged from polling conducted in the early 1990s. In 1987, […]

Getting the news could be the single most extensive cross-cultural experience for the Hispanic population in America.

Getting the news could be the single most extensive cross-cultural experience for the Hispanic population in America, according to a report issued today the Pew Hispanic Center. A growing number of Hispanics switch between English and Spanish to get the news. Rather than two audiences sharply segmented by language, the survey shows that many more Latinos get at least some of their news in both English and Spanish than in just one language or the other.

3:30-5:30 p.m. Washington, D.C. Speakers: E.J. Dionne, Co-Chair, the Pew Forum, and Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution Raja Elhabti, Director of Research, Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights Husain Haqqani, Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Justin Vaisse, Affiliated Scholar, Brookings Center on the U.S. and Europe E.J. DIONNE, JR.: It’s great to […]

Summary of Findings Public support for war in Iraq has been unaffected by the murders and desecration of the corpses of American citizens in Falluja. However, continued turmoil and violence in Iraq may be taking a toll on President Bush’s approval ratings. More Americans now disapprove of the way he is doing his job than […]

Back to Religion and Public Schools Issue Page One Electorate Under God? A Dialogue on Religion and American Politics Executive Summary Event Transcript Event Transcript: Under God? A Discussion of the Constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance Issue Backgrounder: One Nation Under God? A Constitutional Question Background On June 26, 2002, a divided three-judge panel […]