Political Issues

The public views America’s role in the world with considerable apprehension and concern. In fact, most Americans say it would be better if the U.S. just dealt with its own problems and let other countries deal with their own problems as best they can.

For the National Day of Prayer, we rounded up survey data on Americans’ prayer habits, as well as historical instances of prayer intersecting with the government.

The public’s views of the Affordable Care Act, which were evenly divided following the Supreme Court’s ruling last summer upholding a key section of the law, are again more negative than positive.

There are striking differences in the extent to which people think the Quran should influence their nation’s laws, according to surveys across 10 countries with significant Muslim populations.

While significant shares of Israeli Arabs and Jews are optimistic about the prospect of a two-state solution, those who would live in this new independent state – the Arabs currently in the Palestinian territories – are less optimistic about it.

Americans and Europeans often have different perspectives on individualism, the role of government, free expression, religion and morality.

Between 1994 and 2005, Republicans’ and Democrats’ views of immigrants tracked one another closely. Beginning around 2006, however, they began to diverge.

By design, wealthier Americans pay most of the nation’s total individual income taxes.

The hundreds of exemptions, deductions and other breaks embedded in the tax code will cost the federal government more than $1.3 trillion this fiscal year.

Many countries have laws that ban or limit women from wearing religious attire in public places. By comparison, far fewer countries require women to wear particular types of attire for religious reasons.