Public support for the death penalty is still at its low
These 3 graphs explain why.
The Supreme Court’s 1963 school prayer ruling finally has majority support
The politics of school prayer are changing – slowly.
The political science behind the Bidens’ biting dogs
Democrats are more permissive (pet) parents.
How politically divided is the U.S.? It’s complicated but quantifiable.
Our new measure of national unity examines shifts over decades
Half of Americans support abortion on demand
For decades, the proportion of Americans who support a woman’s right to abortion for any reason has crept steadily upward.
Can Democrats appeal to both professionals and blue-collar workers? Yes, but only on these issues.
Blue-collar workers’ greater economic insecurity is making them more conservative on many subjects
More Americans than usual have been changing parties. Why?
Here’s what our research found
White Republicans and White Democrats are moving farther apart on race. Or is that just an education gap?
To find out, I looked at six ways to measure White attitudes on race — and how those influenced their votes.
For racially biased conservative Whites, owning a gun is just part of being a good citizen
They see gun regulations as attacks on their patriotism and moral superiority
The pope said he supports civil unions for same-sex couples. American Catholics will approve.
Even Republican Catholics have a favorable view of lesbians and gay men.
Identity politics can help Biden win in November
Appeals for racial equity can motivate Democrats to vote.
Many Americans deeply distrust experts. So will they ignore the warnings about coronavirus?
The problem isn’t just partisanship; it’s the anti-intellectualism in American life.
The Democratic candidates are unabashedly liberal. Is that what Democratic voters want?
More and more, Democrats think about policy and ideology when they think about politics.
Why young white evangelicals aren’t likely to leave the Republican Party
Maybe they don’t like Trump. But that’s not what counts.
Who supports animal rights? Here’s what we found.
These two graphs explain.
Whites have fled the Democratic Party. Here’s how the nation got there.
[caption id="attachment_41151" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Blue Democratic donkey cookies and red
The ‘campus free speech crisis’ is a myth. Here are the facts.
[caption id="attachment_70614" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Exercising their free-speech rights, students from
Abortion taught conservative Christians to argue for minority rights — as they’re doing today in Masterpiece Cakeshop.
When is a wedding cake not just a cake, but
Lots of Republicans actually support gun control
[caption id="attachment_64407" align="aligncenter" width="960"] The scene in front of the
Republicans are increasingly antagonistic toward experts. Here’s why that matters.
Since 2015, according to a new Pew Research Center poll,
Will the March for Science backfire by politicizing science? It depends on this.
[caption id="attachment_57079" align="alignnone" width="960"] Opponents of the Keystone XL and
The 40-year decline in the tolerance of college students, graphed
[caption id="attachment_55140" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Middlebury College students turn their backs
What 4 types of American nationalism can tell us about Trump voters
[caption id="attachment_53637" align="aligncenter" width="960"] A woman gives a thumbs-up to
Evangelical voters will almost surely vote for Donald Trump. Here’s why.
For at least three decades, the Republican Party has won
Why don’t millennials vote?
[caption id="attachment_37676" align="aligncenter" width="908"] Tyler Summers, left, who said she
Trump changes how voters view the other Republican candidates. Here’s how.
[caption id="attachment_36269" align="aligncenter" width="908"] 2016 Republican Presidential candidates Senator Ted
More people think abortion should always be legal. And more people think it should never be legal.
[caption id="attachment_35696" align="aligncenter" width="908"] On March 23, 2012, supporters from
It’s been 25 years since German reunification. Why are former East Germans responsible for so much xenophobic violence?
[caption id="attachment_11538" align="aligncenter" width="512"] Berliners sing and dance on top
Using the n-word is more common than you (or President Obama) may think
[caption id="attachment_26476" align="alignnone" width="620" class="align center"] President Barack Obama pauses
Here’s one way marriage equality is no longer like Loving or Roe
Here at the Monkey Cage, I've attempted to put the
Here's one way marriage equality is no longer like Loving or Roe
Here at the Monkey Cage, I've attempted to put the
How TV helped change attitudes about marijuana
My favorite TV show as a kid, "Beverly Hills, 90210,"
Why the Republican Party doesn’t have more female candidates
[caption id="attachment_16276" align="aligncenter" width="636"] Stephen Colbert is one of many
Why the Republican Party doesn't have more female candidates
[caption id="attachment_16276" align="aligncenter" width="636"] Stephen Colbert is one of many
Is a Democratic realignment afoot in the middle class?
In the past 40 years, the industrial economy has evolved
Conspiracy theories aren't just for conservatives
[caption id="attachment_14778" align="aligncenter" width="714"] (REUTERS/Bob Strong)[/caption] Who doesn’t love a
Conspiracy theories aren’t just for conservatives
[caption id="attachment_14778" align="aligncenter" width="714"] (REUTERS/Bob Strong)[/caption] Who doesn’t love a
Americans have not become more politically polarized
[caption id="attachment_12195" align="aligncenter" width="650"] (Alex Wong/Getty Images)[/caption] This is a
Donald Sterling shows the separate realities of Democrats and Republicans about race
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="606" special=""] (Danny Moloshok/AP)[/caption] This is a
Will an organization receiving U.S. government funds get away with discriminatory hiring practices?
World Vision U.S., a Christian nonprofit organization, announced Monday it would
The real reason why millennials don't trust others
This is a guest post by Eric Uslaner, Professor of
The real reason why millennials don’t trust others
This is a guest post by Eric Uslaner, Professor of
Is a 'national shift toward envy' underway? Maybe not.
Jay Livingston is a one-man truth squad for Arthur Brooks.
Is a ‘national shift toward envy’ underway? Maybe not.
Jay Livingston is a one-man truth squad for Arthur Brooks.
More on those happy conservatives
We recently discussed two claims made by Arthur Brooks in
No, Arthur Brooks: Conservative women are not 'particularly blissful'
Yesterday we reported on Arthur Brooks, president of the American
'None, it seems, are happier than the Tea Partiers . . .' Umm, maybe not.
Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute writes, The richest data
Having daughters makes you more liberal. No, it makes you more conservative. No, it . . . ??
A couple of people pointed me to a recent study
The Emerging Marriage Majority
We welcome a second post by Patrick Egan on the
What if Marriage Equality Is Loving Instead of Roe?
We welcome this guest post from NYU political scientist Patrick
Cool GSS training video! And cumulative file 1972-2012!
Felipe Osorio made the above video to help people use
Racial Polarization and the Challenge to the Voting Rights Act
bq. There can be no doubt that the covered jurisdictions
The Real Story on Public Support for Government Spending
After seeing some of his tweets this weekend, I asked
Who Really Gives? Partisanship and Charitable Giving in the United States
Michele Margolis and Michael Sances write: Conservatives and liberals are
1.5 million people were told that extreme conservatives are happier than political moderates. Approximately .0001 million Americans learned that the opposite is true.
From Brooks op-ed in NYT: People at the extremes are
Renowned sociologist is utterly misinformed about American voters
Elder statesman of sociology Peter Berger writes: [New York mayor
The Declining Culture of Guns and Violence in the United States
This is a guest post by political scientist Patrick Egan.
The National Election Study, General Social Survey, and Current Population Survey use face-to-face interviewing
In writing about the difficulties of survey nonresponse, a problem
My Email to Charles Lane
I wrote Charles Lane a brief note in response to
What your NSF dollar gets you: understanding of public opinion and technological spinoffs
Congressman Flake wants to zero out political science funding from
Why Don’t People Trust the Media Anymore? (Part 1)
This is a guest post by Georgetown political scientist Jonathan
Graphiti: Income Inequality Edition
Over at his blog, Mike Sances investigates the claim that
The General Social Survey is a great resource
See, for example, this report by Deborah Carr on changing
Americans Have Become More Opposed to Adultery. Why?
Tired of talking about the debt ceiling? Let's talk about
“Sampling: Design and Analysis”: a course for political science graduate students
Early this afternoon I made the plan to teach a
Age and happiness: The pattern isn’t as clear as you might think
A couple people pointed me to this recent news article
What Do Americans Think About Birthright Citizenship?
Everyone knows this controversy by now. Here is the bill.
Having daughters makes you more left-wing (in Britain and Germany) or more right-wing (in the United States)
Sociologists Dalton Conley and Emily Rauscher claim: Using nationally-representative data
NSF political science funding
Just to follow up on Lee's note, I clicked through
“The Homosexual in America”
bq. The once widespread view that homosexuality is caused by
Are Republicans More Likely to Have Affairs and Get Divorces?
Charles Blow revisits familiar findings: "red" states have higher divorce
Has the Public Become More Opposed to Abortion?
These Gallup and Pew data are receiving a lot of
I Didn’t Vote Because…the Stars Were Misaligned?
The graph above comes from Rudy Espino. It displays the
More Perspective…
Shortly before Election Day, Jennifer Hochschild, a sometime denizen of
Why Is This Man Glowering When He Should Be Smiling? Conservatives, Liberals, and the Happiness Gap
In a 2005 Pew Research Center survey, 47% of self-described
Religious Commitment in Academia: Political Scientists Stand Out
The true scientist is, religiously speaking, non- or even anti-religious.