With the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths on the rise in the United States, Republicans and Democrats remain far apart in their views of the threat to public health posed by the coronavirus outbreak. More than eight-in-ten Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party (85%) say the coronavirus is a major threat to the health of the U.S. population. Republicans and Republican leaners see the disease in less serious terms: About as many Republicans say the coronavirus is a major threat to public health (46%) as say it is a minor threat (45%).
The gap between Republicans and Democrats in perceptions of the public health threat posed by COVID-19 is about the same as it was in early May, before cases surged in a number of states, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina and Texas. The partisan gap was somewhat smaller during the early stages of the outbreak in the U.S. in mid-March.
Views of the economic threat posed by COVID-19 are similar across both partisan coalitions, according to the survey, conducted July 13 to 19. Overall, 86% of Americans – including 88% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans – now view the coronavirus outbreak as a major threat to the U.S. economy. Concern over the outbreak’s economic impact has remained very high since the spring, when unemployment claims surged and the country’s 11-year economic expansion came to an end.
A majority of Americans think social media companies have too much power and influence in politics, and roughly half think these major technology companies should be regulated more than they are now, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that comes as four major tech executives prepare to testify before Congress about their firms’ role in the economy and society.
Overall, 72% of U.S. adults say social media companies have too much power and influence in politics today, according to the June 16-22 survey. Far fewer Americans believe the amount of political power these companies hold is about the right amount (21%) or not enough (6%).
Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats believe social media companies wield too much power, but Republicans are particularly likely to express this view. Roughly eight-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (82%) think these companies have too much power and influence in politics, compared with 63% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. Democrats, on the other hand, are more likely than Republicans to say these companies have about the right amount of power and influence in politics (28% vs. 13%). Small shares in both parties believe these companies do not have enough power.
Even before the United States was roiled by the coronavirus pandemic and protests over racial injustice, many Latinos had concerns about their own place in America with Donald Trump as president.
About half (48%) of Hispanics overall said they had serious concerns about their place in the country, according to a Pew Research Center survey of Latino adults fielded in December 2019. This was particularly true of Hispanic U.S. adults who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, 60% of whom held this view compared with 26% of Hispanics who identify as or lean Republican. Conversely, 72% of Republican Hispanics said they were confident about their place in America, compared with 36% of Democratic Hispanics.
The nation’s Latino population reached 60.6 million in 2019, accounting for about 18% of the national U.S. population. Of the nation’s 41 million Hispanic adults, roughly half are immigrants and about another 23% are the U.S.-born adult children of immigrant parents. About 62% of Latino registered voters identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, while 34% affiliate with or lean to the Republican Party.
An Ohio voter drops off her ballot at the Board of Elections in Dayton, Ohio, on April 28, 2020. (Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images)
The prospect of conducting the presidential election during a pandemic has prompted many states to reexamine their plans for how to conduct the election safely, including when it comes to access to early or absentee voting.
About two-thirds of Americans (65%) say the option to vote early or absentee should be available to any voter without requiring a documented reason, while a third say early and absentee voting should only be allowed with a reason, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 16-22.
Those who say documentation should be required for absentee voting were asked if COVID-19 should be considered a documented reason. Among the public overall, 19% say documentation should be required but COVID-19 should not be a valid reason; 14% say documented reasons should be required and COVID-19 should be one of them.
Social media posts from members of Congress referencing “Black lives matter” increased dramatically in the weeks following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a white police officer during an arrest. There were more total mentions of the phrase “Black lives matter” and the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag from members of the 116th Congress on Twitter and Facebook between May 25 and June 14, 2020, than from all members of Congress in the five years prior.
All told, 236 members (45%) of the 116th Congress have mentioned “Black lives matter” on Facebook or Twitter dating back as far as Jan. 1, 2015 – the earliest data point in the Center’s collection of congressional social media accounts. And of those members, roughly half (121 lawmakers) mentioned these terms on social media for the first time in the three weeks following Floyd’s killing.
The separation of church and state has come under scrutiny again this summer after the Supreme Court sided with religious conservatives in a series of rulings. One of the rulings allows states to fund religious schools indirectly, while another protects religious schools from federal employment discrimination lawsuits.
Americans have been debating where to draw the line between religion and government since the country’s founding. And even as the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans rises, church and state remain intertwined in many ways – often with the public’s support.
Here are eight facts about the connections between religion and government in the United States, based on previously published Pew Research Center analyses.
President Donald Trump has made big changes to the federal judiciary since taking office in 2017. Trump has appointed two Supreme Court justices – Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – as well as nearly 200 other judges with lifetime appointments to lower federal courts.
So how does Trump compare with other presidents in the number and personal characteristics of the judges he has appointed to the federal bench so far? Below are four charts that compare Trump’s record on judicial appointments to those of his recent White House predecessors, going back to Jimmy Carter.
All findings are based on a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Federal Judicial Center, the research and education arm of the federal judiciary. The analysis focuses on judges already confirmed to their positions by the U.S. Senate – not nominees who are still awaiting votes.
Here are key facts about digital-native news organizations, based on Pew Research Center analyses of data from Comscore, eMarketer and other sources. All data predates the current downturn related to the coronavirus.
Republicans and Democrats largely disagree over the seriousness of several major problems currently facing the country, even as the United States grapples with issues including a surge in new coronavirus cases and an economic recession.
Democrats are generally far more likely than Republicans to view several concerns – including how racial and ethnic minorities are treated by the criminal justice system, the coronavirus outbreak and unemployment – as very big problems in the country, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 16 to 22 (before the most recent spike in coronavirus cases in several states).
For the most part, partisan differences are over the severity of these problems. For example, large majorities in both parties – 95% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 72% of Republicans and Republican leaners – agree the coronavirus outbreak is either a very big or moderately big problem for the country. However, roughly twice as many Democrats (76%) as Republicans (37%) say it is a very big problem.
Many of the values of the feminist movement have been accepted across the political spectrum in the United States, even among Americans who don’t personally identify as feminists, according to a Pew Research Center survey about gender equality that comes 100 years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
For example, a majority of Democrats and Republicans – whether they identify as feminists or not – say it is very important for women to have equal rights with men. Similarly, majorities in both partisan coalitions support adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The survey comes as scholars and commentators debate the impact of feminism on women’s rights and broader American culture. Some argue that feminism has become universal and that the values and principles of women’s equality and empowerment have already been adopted to a large extent by society, no longer requiring identification with the label of feminist.
