Research Report:


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http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=4/2/2007&id=04020720342675





Pew Poll Finds Shift in Country's 'Core Political and Social Values'


Americans increasingly believe the government 'should help more needy
people even if it means going deeper into debt'


From the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press:


"Increased public support for the social safety net, signs of growing
public concern about income inequality, and a diminished appetite for
assertive national security policies have improved the political landscape
for the Democrats as the 2008 presidential campaign gets underway.


"At the same time, many of the key trends that nurtured the Republican
resurgence in the mid-1990s have moderated, according to Pew's longitudinal
measures of the public's basic political, social and economic values. The
proportion of Americans who support traditional social values has edged
downward since 1994, while the proportion of Americans expressing strong
personal religious commitment also has declined modestly.


"Even more striking than the changes in some core political and social
values is the dramatic shift in party identification that has occurred
during the past five years. In 2002, the country was equally divided along
partisan lines: 43% identified with the Republican Party or leaned to the
GOP, while an identical proportion said they were Democrats. Today, half of
the public (50%) either identifies as a Democrat or says they lean to the
Democratic Party, compared with 35% who align with the GOP.


"Yet the Democrats' growing advantage in party identification is tempered
by the fact that the Democratic Party's overall standing with the public is
no better than it was when President Bush was first inaugurated in 2001.
Instead, it is the Republican Party that has rapidly lost public support,
particularly among political independents....


"The study of the public's political values and attitudes by the Pew
Research Center for the People & the Press -- the most recent in a series
of such reports dating back to 1987 -- finds a pattern of rising support
since the mid-1990s for government action to help disadvantaged Americans.
More Americans believe that the government has a responsibility to take
care of people who cannot take care of themselves, and that it should help
more needy people even if it means going deeper into debt....


"Despite these favorable shifts in support for more government help for the
poor, 69% agree that 'poor people have become too dependent on government
assistance programs.' Still, the number in agreement has been declining
over the past decade.


"More broadly, the poll finds that money worries are rising. More than
four-in-ten (44%) say they 'don't have enough money to make ends meet,' up
from 35% in 2002. While a majority continues to say they are 'pretty well
satisfied' with their personal financial situation, that number is lower
than it has been in more than a decade.


"In addition, an increasing number of Americans subscribe to the sentiment
'today it's really true that the rich just get richer while the poor get
poorer.' Currently, 73% concur with that sentiment, up from 65% five years
ago....


"Even as Americans express greater commitment to solving domestic problems,
they voice more hesitancy about global engagement. They also are less
disposed than five years ago to favor a strong military as the best way to
ensure peace....


"The latest values survey, conducted Dec. 12, 2006-Jan. 9, 2007, finds a
reversal of increased religiosity observed in the mid-1990s. While most
Americans remain religious in both belief and practice, the percentage
expressing strong religious beliefs has edged down since the 1990s....


"At the same time, the survey records further declines in traditional
social attitudes. The poll finds greater public acceptance of homosexuality
and less desire for women to play traditional roles in society. Both
represent a continuation of trends that have been apparent over the past 20
years, and have occurred mostly among older people. The younger generations
have changed the least, as they have consistently expressed more accepting
points of view over the past 20 years....


"Among other key findings from the wide-ranging survey:
      "...Americans are worried more that businesses rather than government
      are snooping into their lives. About three-in-four (74%) say they are
      concerned that business corporations are collecting too much personal
      information while 58% express the same concern about the government.
      "The public is losing confidence in itself. A dwindling majority
      (57%) say they have a good deal of confidence in the wisdom of the
      American people when it comes to making political decisions.
      Similarly, the proportion who agrees that Americans 'can always find
      a way to solve our problems' has dropped 16 points in the past five
      years.
      "Americans feel increasingly estranged from their government. Barely
      a third (34%) agree with the statement, 'most elected officials care
      what people like me think,' nearly matching the 20-year low of 33%
      recorded in 1994 and a 10-point drop since 2002.
      "...Interpersonal racial attitudes continue to moderate. More than
      eight-in-ten (83%) agree that 'it's all right for blacks and whites
      to date,' up six percentage points since 2003 and 13 points from a
      Pew survey conducted 10 years ago.
      "Republicans are increasingly divided over the cultural impact of
      immigrants. Nearly seven-in-ten (68%) conservative Republicans say
      immigrants threaten American customs, compared with 43% of GOP
      moderates and liberals. Democrats have long been divided along
      ideological lines, but the GOP previously had not been."


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