As Americans head to the polls this November, their values and basic beliefs are more polarized along partisan lines than at any point in the past 25 years. Unlike in 1987, when this series of surveys began, the values gap between Republicans and Democrats is now greater than gender, age, race or class divides.

Overall, there has been much more stability than change across the 48 political values measures that the Pew Research Center has tracked since 1987. But the average partisan gap has nearly doubled over this 25-year period – from 10 percentage points in 1987 to 18 percentage points in the new study.

Nearly all of the increases have occurred during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. During this period, both parties’ bases have often been critical of their parties for not standing up for their traditional positions. Currently, 71% of Republicans and 58% of Democrats say their parties have not done a good job in this regard.

With regard to the broad spectrum of values, basic demographic divisions – along lines such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion and class – are no wider than they have ever been. Men and women, whites, blacks and Hispanics, the highly religious and the less religious, and those with more and less education differ in many respects. However, these differences have not grown in recent years, and for the most part pale in comparison to the overwhelming partisan divide we see today.

In recent years, both parties have become smaller and more ideologically homogeneous. Republicans are dominated by self-described conservatives, while a smaller but growing number of Democrats call themselves liberals. Among Republicans, conservatives continue to outnumber moderates by about two-to-one. And there are now as many liberal Democrats as moderate Democrats.

But the growing partisan divide over political values is not simply the result of the declining number who identify with the party labels. While many Americans have given up their party identification over the past 25 years and now call themselves independents, the polarization extends also to independents, most of whom lean toward a political party. Even when the definition of the party bases is extended to include these leaning independents, the values gap has about doubled between 1987 and 2012.

Looking ahead to the 2012 election, the largest divides between committed supporters of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are over the scope and role of government in the economic realm. Swing voters, who make up about a quarter of all registered voters, are cross-pressured. Their attitudes on the social safety net and immigration are somewhat closer to those of Romney supporters, while they tilt closer to Obama supporters in opinions about labor unions and some social issues.

In contrast to the widening partisan gap, the new survey finds neither growing class differences in fundamental political values, nor increasing class resentment. As in the past, a substantial majority of Americans agree that “the rich just get richer while the poor get poorer.” Yet there are no indications of increasing hostility toward the rich and successful. And there are no signs that lower-income people have become more cynical about an individual’s power to control their destiny or the value of hard work.

At the same time, the proportion of Americans who see a widening gap in living standards between the poor and middle class has grown since the mid-1980s. But the public sees no greater gap in values differences between the middle class and poor over this period.

The polling finds little support for the broad notion of American “declinism.” As has been the case in previous political values surveys, a large majority agrees that “as Americans we can always find a way to solve our problems and get what we want.” The public’s confidence in the nation has not been dulled, even as Americans have become more skeptical about prospects for economic growth.

These are among the principal findings of the latest Pew Research Center American Values survey, conducted April 4-15, 2012, among 3,008 adults nationwide. The values project, which began in 1987 and has been updated 14 times since then, tracks a wide range of the public’s fundamental beliefs. These questions do not measure opinions about specific policy or political questions, but rather the underlying values that ultimately shape those opinions.

Widening Gaps over Social Safety Net, Environmentalism

The survey covers the public’s attitudes on the role and performance of government, the environment, business, labor, equal opportunity, national security and several other dimensions.

Republicans are most distinguished by their increasingly minimalist views about the role of government and lack of support for environmentalism. Democrats have become more socially liberal and secular. Republicans and Democrats are most similar in their level of political engagement.

On some sets of issues, such as views of the social safety net, there already were sizable partisan gaps in Pew Research’s first political values study in 1987. But these differences have widened considerably. On others, such as measures of religiosity and social conservatism, there were only modest differences initially, but these divides also have grown.

Republicans and Democrats are furthest apart in their opinions about the social safety net. There are partisan differences of 35 points or more in opinions about the government’s responsibility to care for the poor, whether the government should help more needy people if it means adding to the debt and whether the government should guarantee all citizens enough to eat and a place to sleep.

On all three measures, the percentage of Republicans asserting a government responsibility to aid the poor has fallen in recent years to 25-year lows.

Just 40% of Republicans agree that “It is the responsibility of the government to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves,” down 18 points since 2007. In three surveys during the George W. Bush administration, no fewer than half of Republicans said the government had a responsibility to care for those unable to care for themselves. In 1987, during the Ronald Reagan’s second term, 62% expressed this view.

Over the past two decades, the public consensus in favor of tougher environmental restrictions has weakened, also primarily because of changing opinions among Republicans.

For the first time in a Pew Research Center political values survey, only about half of Republicans (47%) agree that “there needs to be stricter laws and regulations to protect the environment.” This represents a decline of 17 points since 2009 and a fall of nearly 40 points, from 86%, since 1992.

The partisan gap over this measure was modest two decades ago. Today, roughly twice as many Democrats as Republicans say stricter environmental laws and regulations are needed (93% vs. 47%).

Democrats More Secular, Socially Liberal

Yet the widening partisan divide in political values is not just the result of changing opinions among Republicans. Democrats have shifted their views in a number of areas in recent years, though less dramatically: They have become more secular, more positive in their views of immigrants and more supportive of policies aimed at achieving equal opportunity.

Roughly three-quarters of Democrats (77%) say they “never doubt the existence of God,” as do 76% of independents. The proportion of Democrats saying they never doubt God’s existence has fallen 11 points over the past decade. Among white Democrats, the decline has been 17 points – from 85% in 2002 to 68% currently.

Independents also are less likely to express firm belief in God than in the past. By contrast, the percentage of Republicans saying they never doubt God’s existence is as large today (92%) as it was a decade ago, or a quarter century ago.

There also has been a substantial decline in the share of Democrats saying they “have old-fashioned values about family and marriage.” Just 60% of Democrats currently agree, down from 70% in 2007 and 86% in the first political values survey. Republicans’ views have shown far less change: Currently, 88% say they have old-fashioned values about marriage and family.

Democratic support for doing whatever is necessary to improve the position of minorities, including the possible use of preferences, has increased in recent years. About half (52%) of Democrats agree that “We should make every effort to improve the position of blacks and other minorities, even if it means giving them preferential treatment” – an 11-point increase since 2007.

Republicans’ views have changed little over this period. Just 12% currently agree that all efforts should be taken, including the use of preferential treatment, to improve the position of minorities. Since 1987, the gap between the two parties has about doubled – from 18 points to 40 points.

Class Divides: No Wider than in 1987

While the partisan gaps in political values have increased substantially, class divisions have not. This does not mean there are not significant differences, particularly when it comes to views about whether hard work leads to success and whether success is within an individual’s control. But these differences are generally no wider today than in recent years, or than they were in the initial political values survey.

For the past 25 years, majorities across most groups have rejected the idea that “hard work offers little guarantee of success.” In the current survey, just 35% agree with this statement while 63% disagree. As in the past, those with less education and lower incomes are more likely than those with more education and higher incomes to say that hard work does not ensure success.

Currently, 45% of those with no more than a high school education agree that hard work offers little guarantee of success, compared with 25% of college graduates. The gap was about as large in Pew Research’s first political values study (35% vs.17%).

Among whites who have not completed college, 36% are skeptical that hard work guarantees success; fewer white college graduates agree (24%). The education gap among whites was comparable in 1987 (29% non-college grad, 16% college grad).

There is greater agreement across socioeconomic lines in views of the gap between the rich and poor in this country.

As has been the case in most values surveys, majorities in all educational and income groups agree that “today it’s really true that the rich just get richer while the poor get poorer.” In the current survey, 76% of the public agrees with this statement, about the same as the 74% that agreed in 1987.

Still, there is evidence that the public sees greater economic inequality today than it did in the 1980s. About six-in-ten (61%) say the gap in living standards between middle class and poor people has widened over the past 10 years, while just 28% say it has narrowed.

In a 1986 survey by Gallup and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, just 40% said the gap in the standard of living between the middle class and poor had grown, while about as many (39%) said it had narrowed.

Yet there has been far less change in opinions about whether the values of middle class and poor people are growing apart. In the current survey, 47% say the values of the middle class and poor have gotten more similar over the past 10 years; somewhat fewer (41%) say they have gotten more different. That is little changed from the 1986 survey, when 44% said the values of each had gotten more similar and 33% more different.

Economic Views Sour, But No Decline in Optimism

The survey also finds new evidence of the toll taken by the economic downturn, both on people’s personal financial assessments and their views of the country’s economic prospects. Just 53% say they are “pretty well satisfied with the way things are going for me financially.” That matches the lowest percentage ever, reached three years ago. People with family incomes of $75,000 or more express greater satisfaction with their finances than in 2009; financial satisfaction has continued to sag among those with incomes of less than $40,000.

Only about half of Americans (51%) agree with this statement: “I don’t believe that there are any real limits to growth in this country today”; 45% disagree. That is the lowest percentage ever agreeing with this statement, down slightly from 54% in 2009. In the first political values survey, 67% said there were no limits to growth in the United States.

Despite persistent economic pessimism, however, the public remains bullish about the ability of the American people to overcome challenges. Nearly seven-in-ten (69%) agree that “As Americans, we can always find a way to solve our problems and get what we want.” While that is largely unchanged from 2009 (70%), it is up 11 points since 2007 (58%). It also is about the same percentage that agreed with this statement in the first values survey (68%).

Political Values and the 2012 Election

When the values items are combined into indices (grouping measures on common subjects, such as the social safety net, into a single scale), swing voters – who make up 23% of all registered voters – tend to fall about halfway between certain Obama voters and certain Romney voters. Swing voters are either undecided, only lean toward a candidate, or favor a candidate but say there is still a chance they will change their minds.  (For more, see “With Voters Focused on Economy, Obama Lead Narrows,” April 17, 2012).

On views about the scope and performance of government, for example, there is a wide divide between certain Obama and Romney supporters. But the attitudes of swing voters are about equidistant from backers of either candidate. The same is true on several other key indices, including views of business, the environment and national security.

Nonetheless, there are some issues on which the views of swing voters tilt slightly toward the backers of either candidate. On attitudes toward labor and social conservatism, opinion among swing voters comes somewhat closer to that of Obama voters. By contrast, on indices measuring attitudes on the social safety net and immigration, swing voters’ opinions tilt toward those of Romney supporters.

While the views of swing voters generally fall between those of certain Obama and Romney backers, there are a handful of individual questions that show agreement between swing voters and the supporters of one candidate or the other.

For example, on the power of labor unions and admiration of wealthy people, the opinions of swing voters are closer to those of Obama supporters. About half of swing voters (51%) agree that labor unions have too much power, placing them closer to the views of Obama supporters (39% agree) than Romney supporters (82%).

Just 22% of swing voters, and an identical percentage of Obama supporters, say they “admire people who are rich.” A much higher percentage of Romney supporters (38%) agree.

But swing voters are far closer to Romney voters on the question of whether the government should help more needy people even if it means going further into debt: just 19% of Romney voters and 27% of swing voters agree, compared with a 62% majority of Obama voters.

Number of Independents Continues to Grow

While Republicans and Democrats have been moving further apart in their beliefs, both groups have also been shrinking. Pew Research Center polling conducted so far in 2012 has found fewer Americans affiliating with one of the major parties than at any point in the past 25 years. And looking at data from Gallup going back to 1939, it is safe to say that there are more political independents in 2012 than at any point in the last 75 years.

Currently, 38% of Americans identify as independents, while 32% affiliate with the Democratic Party and 24% affiliate with the GOP. That is little changed from recent years, but long-term trends show that both parties have lost support.

The percentage of Americans identifying as Democrats increased from 31% in 2002, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to 36% in 2008. But over the past four years, Democratic affiliation has fallen to 32%. Republican identification stood at 30% in 2002, but fell to 25% in 2008 and has not recovered since then.

More Conservative Republicans, More Liberal Democrats

Over the past decade, the Republican Party has come to be dominated by conservatives, while liberals make up an increasing share of Democrats.

In surveys conducted this year, 68% of Republicans describe themselves as politically conservative. That is little changed from 2008, but is higher than in 2004 (63%) or 2000 (60%).

Demographically, Republicans remain overwhelmingly white and their average age now approaches 50. Fully 87% of Republicans are non-Hispanic whites, a figure which has changed little since 2000.

Meanwhile, the percentage of Democrats who say their political views are liberal has risen from 28% in 2000 to 34% in 2008 and 38% in 2012 surveys by the Pew Research Center. For the first time, there are as many liberal Democrats as moderate Democrats.

In contrast to Republicans, Democrats have grown increasingly diverse. A narrow majority of Democrats (55%) are non-Hispanic whites, down from 64% in 2000. As in recent years, most Democrats are women (59%). And while the average age of self-described Democrats has risen since 2008 – from 46.9 to 47.7 – Democrats continue to be younger than Republicans on average (47.7 vs. 49.7).

Independents also have become more diverse since 2000: Two-thirds of independents (67%) are non-Hispanic whites, down 12 points from 2000. The proportion of independents who are Hispanic has nearly doubled – from 9% to 16% – over this period.

A plurality of independents (43%) describes their views as moderate, while 30% are conservative and 22% are liberal. These views are largely unchanged from previous election years.

A 2009 survey by Pew Social Demographic Trends found that blacks had far less confidence than whites in their local police in a number of areas, including their treatment of racial groups.

Just 14% of African Americans said they had a great deal of confidence in local police officers to treat blacks and whites equally. More than twice as many whites (38%) had a great deal of confidence in the local police to provide equal treatment. More than three times as many blacks as whites said they had very little confidence in their local police to treat the races equally (34% vs. 9%). Blacks’ confidence in local police to provide equal treatment was little changed from 2007 or 1995.

Yet that survey showed that African Americans had a positive overall assessment of the state of race relations. About three-quarters of African Americans (76%) said blacks and whites got along “very well” or “pretty well.” Majorities of both blacks (60%) and whites (70%) said that the values of the two groups had gotten more similar over the previous 10 years.

And in the wake of Barack Obama’s election as president, there was a sharp rise in perceptions of black progress. Nearly four-in-ten African Americans (39%) said that the “situation of black people in this country” was better than it had been five years earlier.  In 2007, just 20% said the condition of blacks had improved in the previous five years.

Blacks’ concerns over racial discrimination had not decreased, however. More than four-in-ten (43%) African Americans said that there is a lot of discrimination against blacks, compared with just 13% of whites. Whites were more likely to say that Hispanics than blacks faced a lot of discrimination (21% vs. 13%).

Fully 81% of African Americans said “our country needs to continue making changes to give blacks equal rights with whites.” Just 36% of whites agreed, while a majority (54%) said “our country has made the changes needed to give blacks equal rights with whites.”

News Coverage of Blacks

A 2010 study by the Pew Research Center found that African Americans were highly critical of news coverage of blacks. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) said that coverage of blacks was too negative. Just half as many (29%) said coverage was either fair (28%) or too positive (1%).

By contrast, nearly half (48%) of whites said that coverage of blacks was generally fair. Just 31% of whites thought that news coverage of blacks was too negative.

That survey also found that blacks were far more likely than whites to say that the news media devoted too little coverage to race relations. About half of African Americans (51%) said the subject of race relations received too little coverage, compared with just 24% of whites.

However, there were smaller differences between blacks and whites in views of the accuracy of news coverage of race relations. Pluralities of both whites (50%) and blacks (42%) said that coverage of race relations make them out to be worse than they actually are. Smaller percentages said coverage presented race relations as better than they really are (16% of whites, 23% of blacks) or about as they really are (23% of whites, 26% of blacks).

The Martin Case: News Interest and Coverage

The Pew Research Center’s most recent News Interest Index, conducted March 22-25 among 1,003 adults, found that Trayvon Martin’s death was the public’s top news story. African Americans were more than twice as likely as whites to say that this was their top story (52% vs. 20%).

On March 30, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism released a report showing the very different ways that cable TV news outlets and talk radio, blogs and Twitter have covered and analyzed the Trayvon Martin story. It found that Twitter interest in the Martin story did not surge until March 17, three weeks after the teenager’s death. (For more, see “How Blogs, Twitter and Mainstream Media Have Handled the Trayvon Martin Case.”)

As the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War approaches, most Americans say the war between the North and South is still relevant to American politics and public life today.

More than half of Americans (56%) say the Civil War is still relevant, according to the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted March 30-April 3 among 1,507 adults. Nearly four-in-ten (39%) say the Civil War is important historically but has little current relevance.

In a nation that has long endured deep racial divisions, the history of that era still elicits some strong reactions. Nearly half of the public (46%) says it is inappropriate for today’s public officials to praise the leaders of the Confederate states during the war; 36% say such statements are appropriate.

Nonetheless, a majority (58%) say they have no particular reaction to the Confederate flag, the symbol of the South. Among those who have a reaction to the flag, more than three times as many say they have a negative reaction as a positive reaction (30% to 9%).

There is no consensus among the public about the primary cause of the Civil War, but more (48%) say that the war was mainly about states’ rights than say it was mainly about slavery (38%). Another 9% volunteer that it was about both equally.

Young people are more likely than older Americans to say that the war’s main cause was states’ rights – 60% of those younger than 30 express this view, the highest percentage of any age group. Those 65 and older are the only age group in which more say that slavery, rather than states’ rights, was the main cause of the Civil War (by 50% to 34%). While 48% of whites view states’ rights was the war’s main cause, so too do 39% of African Americans.

Sense of Southern Identity

On some, but not all, issues relating to the Civil War, the views of whites who identify as Southerners differ significantly from those who do not.

About a quarter of all whites (24%) consider themselves Southerners; 75% do not.

Nearly half of self-described Southern whites (49%) see states’ rights as the war’s main cause; among whites who do not consider themselves Southerners, a comparable percentage (48%) also says states’ rights was the war’s main cause. However, self-described Southern whites are more likely than other whites to view praise by politicians for Confederate leaders as appropriate and to have a positive reaction to displays of the Confederate flag.

Less Positive View of Politicians Praising Confederates

The public expresses a less positive view of politicians praising Confederate leaders than it did a decade ago. In a January 2001 Gallup survey, 50% said they thought it was appropriate for public officials to praise the leaders of the Confederate states in the Civil War; 40% said such praise was inappropriate.

In the new survey, more think that politicians’ statements praising Confederate leaders are inappropriate rather than appropriate (by 49% to 36%).

Whites who consider themselves Southerners are the only group in which substantially more view public officials’ praise for Confederate leaders as appropriate rather than inappropriate (52% to 32%). A plurality of all whites (49%) – and a clear majority of African Americans (60%) – say it is inappropriate for public officials to praise Confederate leaders.

About six-in-ten (59%) among those with at least a college degree also say praising leaders of the former Confederate states is inappropriate, while 30% say they do not have a problem with that. Those with a high school diploma or less are divided (42% appropriate, 41% inappropriate).

Racial Differences in Reactions to Confederate Flag

Only a small number of Americans say they display the Confederate flag, but that symbol of the Southern cause elicits more negative reactions from some groups – especially African Americans, Democrats and the highly educated. Nevertheless, most Americans say they do not react positively or negatively when they see the Confederate flag.

Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) say they display the Confederate flag in places such as their home or office, on their car or on their clothing; 91% say they do not. The number that displays the Confederate flag is just a small fraction of the 75% who say they display the American flag in their homes or offices, on their cars or their clothing.

Far more African Americans than whites have a negative reaction to the Confederate flag (41% to 29%). Still, about as many blacks have no reaction (45%) as a negative reaction to the Confederate flag. Among whites, 61% have no reaction.

Whites who consider themselves Southerners have a more positive reaction to the Confederate flag than do other whites: 22% say they react positively when they see the Confederate flag displayed, compared with 8% of all whites and just 4% of whites who do not consider themselves Southerners.

Nearly half of those with at least a college degree (46%) say they have a negative reaction to the display of the Confederate flag, compared with a third (33%) of those with some college experience and just 18% of those with a high school diploma or less.

There also are partisan differences in reactions to the flag: about twice as many Democrats (44%) as Republicans (21%) react negatively to displays of the Confederate flag. And Republicans are more likely than Democrats to have a positive reaction to the flag (15% vs. 7%).

A comprehensive new survey of racial attitudes finds that a year after Barack Obama’s election, blacks’ assessments about the state of black progress in America have improved more dramatically than at any time in the last quarter century. The poll finds an upbeat set of black views on a wide range of matters, including race relations, local community satisfaction and expectations for future black progress. But at the same time, some views on race show little change. Most blacks still have doubts about the basic racial fairness of American society.

Some of the most notable trends include:

• Nearly twice as many blacks now (39%) than in 2007 (20%) say that the “situation of black people in this country” is better than it had been five years earlier

• A majority of blacks (53%) say that life for blacks in the future will be better than it is now. In 2007, only 44% said things will be better for blacks in the future, while 21% said they will be worse.

• Most blacks join with most whites in saying that the two racial groups have grown more alike in the past decade, both in their standard of living and their core values.

• Recession not withstanding, the number of blacks who rate their personal finances as excellent or good is little changed (32% now, 27% in late 2006). During the same period, ratings among whites dropped significantly – to 35% now, from 52% then.

• Fewer than half (44%) of blacks say they are very satisfied with their community as a place to live, but this figure is higher than it was in 2007, when just 36% of blacks felt this way. Community satisfaction ratings of whites (64%), while higher than those of blacks, have not improved during the past two years.

• A majority of blacks (54%) say they believe Obama’s barrier-breaking election has improved race relations in America. A third of whites (32%) agree, while 45% say his election has made no difference to race relations.

Despite the upbeat findings from blacks on many fronts, more than eight-in-ten blacks — compared with just more than a third of whites — say the country needs to make more changes to give blacks equal rights with whites. And most remain skeptical that blacks are treated fairly by the police.

View the complete report at pewsocialtrends.org

Eight years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Americans see Muslims as facing more discrimination inside the U.S. than other major religious groups. Nearly six-in-ten adults (58%) say that Muslims are subject to a lot of discrimination, far more than say the same about Jews, evangelical Christians, atheists or Mormons. In fact, of all the groups asked about, only gays and lesbians are seen as facing more discrimination than Muslims, with nearly two-thirds (64%) of the public saying there is a lot of discrimination against homosexuals.

The poll also finds that two-thirds of non-Muslims (65%) say that Islam and their own faith are either very different or somewhat different, while just 17% take the view that Islam and their own religion are somewhat or very similar. But Islam is not the only religion that Americans see as mostly different from their own. When asked about faiths other than their own, six-in-ten adults say Buddhism is mostly different, with similar numbers saying the same about Mormonism (59%) and Hinduism (57%).

By a smaller margin, Americans are also inclined to view Judaism and Catholicism as somewhat or very different from their own faith (47% different vs. 35% similar for Judaism, 49% different vs. 43% similar for Catholicism). Only when asked about Protestantism do perceived similarities outweigh perceived differences, with 44% of non-Protestants in the survey saying Protestantism and their own faith are similar and 38% saying they are different.

Results from the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, conducted Aug. 11-17 among 2,010 adults reached on both landlines and cell phones, reveal that high levels of perceived similarity with religious groups are associated with more favorable views of those groups. Those who see their own faith as similar to Catholicism, Judaism, Mormonism and Islam are significantly more likely than others to have favorable views of members of these groups.

Detailed questions about perceptions of Islam show that a plurality of the public (45%) says Islam is no more likely than other faiths to encourage violence among its believers; 38% take the opposite view, saying that Islam does encourage violence more than other faiths do. Views on this question have fluctuated in recent years, with the current findings showing that the view that Islam is connected with violence has declined since 2007, when 45% of the public said that Islam encourages violence more than other religions do.

Almost half of Americans (45%) say they personally know someone who is Muslim. Also, slim majorities of the public are able to correctly answer questions about the name Muslims use to refer to God (53%) and the name of Islam’s sacred text (52%), with four-in-ten (41%) correctly answering both “Allah” and “the Koran.” These results are consistent with recent years and show modest increases in Americans’ familiarity with Islam compared with the months following the 9/11 attacks. Those people who know a Muslim are less likely to see Islam as encouraging of violence; similarly, those who are most familiar with Islam and Muslims are most likely to express favorable views of Muslims and to see similarities between Islam and their own religion.

Religious Similarities and Differences

When asked how much various religions resemble their own, the public cites Protestantism and Catholicism as the faiths most like theirs. Overall, more than four-in-ten non-Protestants in the survey (44%) say that the Protestant religion and their own faith are similar (including 12% saying they are very similar), slightly more than say Protestantism and their own faith are somewhat or very different (38%). Of non-Catholics, 43% see mostly similarities between Catholicism and their own faith, while roughly half (49%) see mostly differences. More than one-third of non-Jews say Judaism is somewhat or very similar to their own faith (35%), while 47% say it is somewhat or very different.

By comparison, the public is even more likely to see differences rather than similarities between their own religion and Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism. In fact, majorities say that each of these faiths is different from their own religion, with sizeable numbers saying that these religions are very different from their own (37% say this about Mormonism, 40% about Hinduism, 44% about Buddhism and 45% about Islam).

Protestants see Catholicism as the religion most like their own, followed by Judaism. Among Protestants in the survey, white evangelicals (49%) and white mainline Protestants (50%) are somewhat more likely than black Protestants (39%) to see their religion as similar to Catholicism. But all three groups have roughly the same impression of Judaism’s similarity with their own faith (39% similar among white evangelicals, 34% among both white mainline Protestants and black Protestants). Fewer Protestants see Mormonism (22%), Islam (15%), Hinduism (9%) or Buddhism (7%) as similar to their own faith.

Catholics, especially white, non-Hispanic Catholics, name Protestantism as the faith that is most similar to Catholicism. Interestingly, Catholics see greater similarities between Catholicism and Protestantism than do Protestants. After Protestantism, Catholics see Judaism as most like their faith. Indeed, Catholics are slightly more likely than Protestants to say their faith is similar to Judaism. Less than a quarter of Catholics (22%) see Mormonism as similar to their religion, 19% see Islam as similar, 16% see Buddhism as similar, and 12% see Hinduism as similar.

Compared with other groups, fewer of the religiously unaffiliated see their own beliefs as similar to Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism. However, the religiously unaffiliated are more likely than any other group in the survey to see their own beliefs as similar to Buddhism (26%).

Analysis of the survey reveals that perceptions of similarity with religious groups are linked with more favorable views of these groups. For instance, non-Catholics who see mostly similarities between their own faith and Catholicism are much more likely than those who see mostly differences to view Catholicism favorably (76% vs. 54%). And two-thirds of those who see mostly similarities between their own faith and Islam have a favorable view of Muslims (65%), compared with fewer than half of those who see mostly differences with Islam (37%).

Discrimination and Religious Minorities

Americans are more likely to say there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims than against any other religious group asked about in the survey. Most people say there is not a lot of discrimination against Jews, atheists, Mormons and evangelical Christians in the U.S., while nearly six-in-ten (58%) say there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims.

The only group that Americans perceive as subject to more discrimination than Muslims is homosexuals; nearly two-thirds of adults (64%) say gays and lesbians face a lot of discrimination. About half say blacks (49%) and Hispanics (52%) suffer from a lot of discrimination, and more than a third (37%) say there is a lot of discrimination against women in the U.S. today.

Young people (ages 18-29) are especially likely to say there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims, with nearly three-quarters (73%) expressing this view. Among those older than age 65, by contrast, only 45% say that Muslims face a lot of discrimination.

Across the political spectrum, most people agree that there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims. But this perception is most common among liberal Democrats, with eight-in-ten saying there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims. This is significantly higher than among all other partisan and ideological groups.

There are only minor differences of opinion between members of the major religious traditions on this question. Black Protestants are most likely to say there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims (65%), but majorities of all religious groups say Muslims face a lot of discrimination.

Few Feel Like Part of a Religious Minority

When asked about their own religious status, one-in-five Americans (19%) say they think of themselves as belonging to a minority because of their religious beliefs while 78% do not, numbers that are unchanged since early 2001. Though white evangelicals constitute the single largest religious group in the country, roughly a quarter (24%) identify themselves as part of a religious minority, much more than the 11% of white mainline Protestants and 13% of Catholics who do so. In this regard, evangelicals resemble black Protestants, among whom 22% regard themselves as part of a religious minority. Among the religiously unaffiliated, 18% see themselves as part of a religious minority, a figure significantly higher than among mainline Protestants or white Catholics.

Frequent attendance at religious services is associated with a higher tendency to feel like part of a religious minority. Overall, one-quarter of those who attend religious services at least once a week say they are a minority because of their beliefs, compared with 16% of those who attend less often. And among white evangelicals, nearly three-in-ten regular churchgoers (29%) see themselves as part of a religious minority. Likewise, 23% of those who say religion is very important in their lives think of themselves as minorities, compared with 14% of those who say religion is less important in their lives.

Politically, those in the middle of the ideological spectrum are less likely to consider themselves part of a religious minority. Just 13% of moderates identify as religious minorities, compared with 22% of conservatives and 21% of liberals.

Views of Islam and Violence

Americans’ views of the link between Islam and violence have fluctuated in recent years. Currently, a plurality (45%) says Islam is no more likely than other faiths to encourage violence among its believers, compared with 38% who say that Islam does encourage violence more than other religions. This is similar to positions on this issue in 2005. By contrast, in Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 2004 and 2007, more people said Islam does encourage violence than said it does not.

Among conservative Republicans, 55% say Islam is more likely than other faiths to encourage violence, down 13 percentage points in two years. However, conservative Republicans are still more likely than other political groups to express a negative view of Islam on this question. Views of Islam and violence have also changed considerably among conservative and moderate Democrats (with the number saying Islam encourages violence more than other faiths down nine percentage points since 2007), while holding steady among other political groups.

White evangelical Protestants are significantly more likely than other religious groups to say Islam is inclined toward violence, with more than half (53%) taking this view. Within other religious groups, fewer than four-in-ten people express this opinion (39% of white mainline Protestants, 38% of white Catholics, 33% of the religiously unaffiliated and 30% of black Protestants).

Familiarity with Muslims

Just under half of Americans know a Muslim, a figure unchanged from 2007 and slightly higher than in November 2001, when 38% of Americans said they personally knew a Muslim. Familiarity with Muslims varies greatly by age and education.

Two-thirds of college graduates (66%) know a person who is Muslim, as do a smaller majority of those with some college (55%). But that drops to just 29% among those who have not attended college. Similarly, 52% of people under age 30 know a Muslim, as do almost half of those ages 30-64. But among those over age 65, just three-in-ten personally know a Muslim.

Men are more likely than women to say they know a Muslim (51% vs. 40%), and blacks are more likely to know a Muslim (57%) than are whites (44%) or Hispanics (39%). Half of moderates (51%) and liberals (50%) say they are acquainted with a Muslim, compared with 41% of conservatives.

White evangelical Protestants are now 11 percentage points more likely to know a Muslim than they were in 2007 (41% vs. 30%), bringing them more in line with the 40% of mainline Protestants and 43% of white Catholics who also say they know a Muslim. Interaction with Muslims is much more common among black Protestants, among whom 61% say they know a Muslim.

Knowledge of Islam

A slim majority of Americans know the Muslim name for God is Allah, and a similar number can correctly name the Koran as the Islamic sacred text. Overall, 41% of the public is able to answer both questions correctly, 23% can answer one but not the other, and 36% of Americans are unfamiliar with either term.

Men are generally more knowledgeable about Islam than women; 47% know the Muslim name for God and name the holy book correctly, compared with 35% of women. This knowledge is also higher among whites than among Hispanics, and Americans under age 65 are much more likely than seniors to know these facts about Islam.

Still, as with knowing a Muslim personally, education makes the greatest difference: Almost two-thirds of college graduates (64%) answered both questions about Islam correctly, compared with less than half of those with some college (48%) and 24% of those who have not attended college.

A majority of liberal Democrats (56%) named both Allah and the Koran correctly, as did nearly as many conservative Republicans (49%). Fewer than half of independents (44%) and just a third of moderate and liberal Republicans and conservative and moderate Democrats answered both correctly.

Knowledge of Islam is fairly equal across religious groups, though it is highest among the unaffiliated (44% answered both questions correctly) and lowest among Catholics (35% answered both correctly).

More Americans can correctly identify both the Koran and Allah today (41%) than could do so in 2002 or 2003 (33% and 31% respectively), though there has been only a marginal increase in Americans’ knowledge about Islam since 2005, when 38% were familiar with both Allah and the Koran. Awareness of the Muslim holy book and name for God has increased noticeably among some groups while remaining steady among others. For instance, 42% of those under age 30 can correctly name the Koran and Allah, up eight percentage points from 2002. Knowledge is also significantly higher among those ages 30 to 64, but familiarity with Islam is largely unchanged among seniors, the group that was least knowledgeable about the religion to begin with; 26% can name both the Koran and Allah today, compared with 23% in 2002.

Knowledge has grown markedly among many religious groups. The increase is most obvious among black Protestants, among whom 42% can name both the Koran and Allah today, compared with 27% in 2002. White Catholics as well as evangelical Protestants are also much more familiar with Islam today than they were in 2002. However, the trend is not apparent among the religiously unaffiliated; 44% of this group can name both Allah and the Koran today, compared with 42% in 2002. The unaffiliated stood out for possessing
the most knowledge of Islam in 2002, whereas today there is less of a gap between them and other religious groups.

Familiarity with Islam Affects Views

Roughly a fourth of Americans (26%) have a relatively high level of familiarity with Islam, that is, they know the names Muslims use to refer to God and to their sacred text, and they are also personally acquainted with a Muslim. Another fourth of the population (27%) is basically unfamiliar with the Muslim religion, neither knowing a Muslim nor having knowledge of Allah or the Koran. The remaining half of the population (47%) falls somewhere between these two groups in terms of familiarity with Islam.

The survey shows that higher levels of familiarity with Islam, and especially knowing someone who is Muslim, are associated with more positive views toward the religion. For example, among the group with the highest level of familiarity with Islam, most reject the idea that Islam encourages violence (57%). By contrast, fewer than half of those with medium familiarity with Islam (46%) and one-third of those with little familiarity (34%) reject the idea of a link between Islam and violence. Not surprisingly, people with lower levels of familiarity with Islam exhibit higher levels of non-response in attitudes about Islam, saying they do not know whether it is more or less likely than other religions to encourage violence.

Similarly, those with the highest levels of familiarity with Islam express the most favorable views of Muslims. Nearly six-in-ten of those most familiar with Islam express favorable views of Muslims, compared with less than four-in-ten among those with less familiarity.

Regardless of their familiarity with Islam, more Americans say that their beliefs are different from rather than similar to the Muslim religion. However, even on this question, those who are most familiar with Islam stand out as being more likely to say that their religion is similar to Islam (27% vs. 7% among those with low familiarity). More than a third (35%) of those with low familiarity say they do not know whether their religion is similar to or different from Islam.

A similar pattern exists with regard to whether Americans perceive a lot of discrimination against Muslims. Those who are most familiar with Islam are significantly more likely than those with minimal exposure to say that there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims today. Seven-in-ten say this, compared with just 44% of those with a low level of familiarity. As on the question of Islam and violence, a large portion (25%) of those with minimal knowledge of Islam say they do not know whether there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims today.

As Barack Obama prepares to take office, majorities say the country is losing ground on any number of key issues, particularly economic ones. Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) say the country is falling further behind on the federal budget deficit, far more than said that during the mid-1990s when the deficit was a top-tier policy issue.

Fully 72% say the country is losing ground on the availability of good-paying jobs – up 25 points since February 2007. Nearly as many (69%) say the country is losing ground on the cost of living.

Notably, the only issue where most people see progress being achieved is no doubt related to Obama’s historic election: 53% say the country is making progress on discrimination against minorities, compared with just 15% who say the country is losing ground, and 28% who see little change. During the mid-1990s, far fewer people said progress was being achieved reducing discrimination (40% in 1995, 38% in 1994).

The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Dec. 3-7 among 1,489 adults reached on landline phones and cell phones, finds that Republicans and Democrats generally agree that the country is losing ground on the budget deficit and jobs. In addition, majorities of Democrats (59%) and Republicans (54%), as well as 62% of independents, say the country is losing ground in competing with other countries economically.

Yet there are wide partisan differences in views about a number of other issues, including the war in Iraq, the gap between rich and poor and poverty. Nearly four-in-ten Democrats (39%) say the country is losing ground on Iraq compared with just 8% of Republicans.

Seven-in-ten Democrats (70%) say the country is losing ground on the gap between rich and poor; just 42% of Republicans agree. Democrats also are far more likely than Republicans to see the country losing ground on poverty and homelessness.

By contrast, more than six-in-ten Republicans express pessimism about the country’s progress on illegal immigration (62% say we are losing ground) and on moral and ethical standards (68%). Fewer than half of Democrats say the country is losing ground in those areas (42% and 49%, respectively).

Mixed Views of Progress on International Issues

Most Republicans (62%) say the United States is making progress in Iraq, while 26% say things are about the same as they have been and just 8% say the United States is losing ground there. Democrats are more evenly divided, with 41% saying things are about the same, 39% saying the country is losing ground, and just 16% saying progress is being made.

Americans generally express less positive opinions about the war in Afghanistan than they do about the country’s involvement in Iraq. About one-in-five say the country is making progress on the war in Afghanistan (21%), just over four-in-ten say things are the same as they have been (42%), and 31% say the country is losing ground on the war in Afghanistan. Republicans, in particular, are much less optimistic about progress in Afghanistan than in Iraq: 37% say the country is making progress in Afghanistan, compared with 62% who say the same about the war in Iraq. Few Democrats see the country making progress in either conflict (16% Iraq, 10% Afghanistan).

When it comes to dealing with international terrorism, about half of Republicans think the country is making progress (49%), 30% think things are about the same as they have been, and just 20% say the country is losing ground. In contrast, 34% of Democrats say the country is losing ground on terrorism, 37% say things have not changed much, and about a quarter (26%) say the country is making progress.

More Signs of Economic Pessimism

Reflecting the public’s bleak overall assessment of the national economy, large majorities say the country is losing ground on every economic issue asked about. (For more on views of the economy, see “Psychology of Bad Times Fueling Consumer Cutbacks,” Dec. 11, 2008).

Nearly eight-in-ten Americans (79%) say the country is losing ground on the budget deficit; 72% offer the same view about the availability of good-paying jobs; and 69% say the country is losing ground on the cost of living. The proportion saying the country is losing ground on the deficit has increased 15 points since February 2007. Perceptions of job availability also have grown much more negative over that period.

There is no recent trend measure in views of whether the country is making progress or losing ground on the cost of living. Currently, 69% say the country is losing ground in that area, which is higher than during the mid-1990s (61% in 1995, 59% in 1994). Opinions about national progress on the gap between rich and poor have remained relatively stable since February 2007, and are comparable to those measured in 1989.

Americans also express negative views about the country’s ability to compete economically with other countries: 58% say the country is losing ground, while just 8% say it is making progress and 30% say the country’s ability to compete with other countries is about the same as it has been in the past. In March 1994, when Pew last asked about this item, 43% thought the country was losing ground when it came to its ability to compete internationally while about a quarter said it was either making progress (24%) or that things were about the same as they had been (26%).

A solid majority of Americans say it as at least somewhat important to the country that an African American has won the presidential nomination of a major political party. But there are wide political and racial divisions over the significance of Barack Obama’s history-making achievement.

Overall, 36% of the public says it is very important to the country that an African American won a major party’s nomination, while another 27% see this as somewhat important. A third of Americans say it is either not too important (15%) or not at all important (18%) that a black candidate has become a major party nominee.

About half of Democrats (51%) say it is very important to the country that an African American has secured the nomination of a major party; that compares with a third of independents (32%) and just 20% of Republicans. Republicans are evenly divided over the importance of this milestone: while 50% view it as either very or somewhat important, nearly as many (48%) say it is not too important (16%) or not at all important (32%).
Nearly six-in-ten blacks (59%) say the nomination of an African American is very important to the country; just 32% of whites express this view. Nearly four-in-ten whites (37%) believe it is not too important (17%) or not at all important (20%) – roughly three times the percentage of blacks (13% not too, not at all important).

Strong Interest in Campaign News

Public interest in the presidential race increased somewhat with last week’s dramatic events. Nearly four-in-ten (38%) say they followed news about the campaign very closely, up from 30% the previous week. This is the highest level of interest recorded since mid-March. Interest was much higher among Democrats (51% followed very closely) than among Republicans (34%) or independents (27%).

Fully 73% say they heard a lot about Obama winning enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. That news registered more widely than any other campaign development so far. There also was broad interest in Hillary Clinton’s decision late in the week to suspend her campaign and endorse her Democratic rival. More than half of the public (55%) heard a lot about Clinton’s decision; Clinton’s withdrawal from the race was the third most widely heard about campaign story thus far.

By week’s end, Obama was the top newsmaker among the three leading presidential candidates, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s (PEJ) Campaign Coverage Index. Obama was featured prominently in 77% of all campaign news stories while Clinton was featured in 60% of all stories. McCain trailed both Democrats; only 21% of the campaign stories featured the Arizona senator.

Obama was by far the most visible candidate in the news last week. Two-thirds of the public (67%) named Obama as the candidate they’ve been hearing the most about in the news in the past week or so. Roughly one-in-five (22%) named Clinton and just 2% named McCain. While Obama has remained the most visible candidate for 13 straight weeks, he has not dominated Clinton and McCain to this extent since mid-March when he gave his speech on race and politics.

Steady Interest in Gas Prices

The national news media focused heavily on the presidential race last week – devoting 50% of its overall coverage to the campaign, according to PEJ. Public interest was split evenly between the campaign and the rising price of gasoline. Two-thirds of the public paid very close attention to news about gas prices last week – unchanged from the previous week and up moderately from early last month. Fully 37% listed gas prices as the single news story they were following more closely than any other last week, roughly equal to the proportion (36%) naming the campaign as their most closely followed story.

One-in-four Americans paid very close attention to reports about the rising unemployment rate, and 3% listed this as their most closely followed news story of the week. There was relatively little interest in the debate in Congress over legislation to combat global warming. Only 13% followed this story very closely and 2% listed this as their top story of the week.

These findings are based on the most recent installment of the weekly News Interest Index, an ongoing project of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The index, building on the Center’s longstanding research into public attentiveness to major news stories, examines news interest as it relates to the news media’s agenda. The weekly survey is conducted in conjunction with The Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, which monitors the news reported by major newspaper, television, radio and online news outlets on an ongoing basis. In the most recent week, data relating to news coverage was collected from June 2-8 and survey data measuring public interest in the top news stories of the week was collected June 6-9 from a nationally representative sample of 1,004 adults.

About the News Interest Index

The News Interest Index is a weekly survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press aimed at gauging the public’s interest in and reaction to major news events.

This project has been undertaken in conjunction with the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, an ongoing content analysis of the news. The News Coverage Index catalogues the news from top news organizations across five major sectors of the media: newspapers, network television, cable television, radio and the internet. Each week (from Sunday through Friday) PEJ will compile this data to identify the top stories for the week. The News Interest Index survey will collect data from Friday through Monday to gauge public interest in the most covered stories of the week.

Results for the weekly surveys are based on telephone interviews among a nationwide sample of approximately 1,000 adults, 18 years of age or older, conducted under the direction of ORC (Opinion Research Corporation). For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls, and that results based on subgroups will have larger margins of error.

For more information about the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, go to www.journalism.org.

Barack Obama’s March 18th speech on race and politics is arguably the biggest political event of the campaign so far. Fully 85% of Americans say they heard at least a little about Obama’s speech, and most (54%) say they heard a lot about it.

Not surprisingly, Barack Obama has been far and away the most visible of the presidential candidates over the past week – 70% say they have heard more about him in the news than the other candidates, compared with 15% who cite Hillary Clinton and just 3% who say they have heard the most about John McCain. As recently as three weeks ago, Obama and Clinton were equally visible in the news.

Roughly half of Americans (49%) saw videos of Reverend Wright’s sermons, and roughly the same number (51%) watched Barack Obama’s speech about race and politics last week. Television was the predominant source for video of these news items, however the internet also played a role.

One-in-ten Americans say they saw Obama’s speech online (7% on the internet only, 3% both on TV and the internet). About the same number (12%) report having seen Wright’s sermons online.

The impact of these events on Obama’s overall image appears to be mixed. Three-in-ten Americans (30%) say their opinion of Obama has grown less favorable in recent days, but another 22% say their opinion of him has grown more favorable.

One measurable effect of Obama’s speech on race in America was to increase the visibility of Reverend Wright’s sermons. In the days leading up to Obama’s Tuesday speech, just 31% of Americans had heard a lot about Wright’s sermons. But over the past weekend, 51% reported hearing a lot about them.

[For more analysis of the impact of these events on views of Obama, see the accompanying report, "Obama Weathers the Wright Storm, Clinton Faces Credibility Problem" released March 27, 2008 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.]

Obama Dominates Public Visibility and Campaign Coverage

Throughout the first three months of the year, Obama and Clinton have been far more visible than the other presidential candidates, and this overwhelming focus on the Democratic contest continues. In the current poll, Obama is by far the candidate that the public has been hearing the most about in the news. Fully, 70% have heard more about Obama in the last week than any other candidate. This is consistent with the balance of the press coverage, according to the Campaign Coverage Index conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Last week, Obama was the featured news maker in 72% of all campaign news stories, his highest coverage level this year.

Only 15% said that Sen. Clinton was the candidate they have been hearing the most about. The gap between Obama’s and Clinton’s visibility has grown substantially over the last two weeks from roughly equal visibility in early March, when 38% had been hearing most about Obama, 37% about Clinton. The drop in Clinton’s public visibility is also consistent with the amount of coverage her campaign received in recent weeks. The share of campaign coverage in which Clinton was the featured candidate fell from 60% three weeks ago to 51% in the following week and down to 30% this past week, according to the Campaign Coverage Index conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Though John McCain has sewn up the Republican nomination, he continues to lag far behind Obama and Clinton in public visibility. Only 3% of the public named John McCain as the candidate they heard most about in the news recently. This too is consistent with the findings of the Campaign Coverage Index, which found just 17% of campaign news stories giving a substantial amount of coverage to McCain, compared with 30% for Clinton and 72% for Obama.

Fewer Americans heard about Senator McCain’s visit to Iraq and the Middle East than heard about Obama’s speech or the Rev. Wright videos. Only about one-in-five Americans heard a lot about either McCain’s trip to the Middle East (22%) where he planned to strengthen his foreign policy credentials or his potentially damaging misstatement linking Iran with al Qaeda (17%).

Press Coverage of Obama Seen As Fair

While Americans are hearing a lot from the press about recent events and controversies surrounding the leading major party candidates, public opinion about the tone of campaign coverage has changed very little over the course of the last month. In fact, relatively few criticize the press for bias in coverage either for or against the candidates. Most voters say that the press treatment of each of the three candidates has been fair.

On balance, more Americans believe coverage of Obama has been too easy on him (23%) than say it has been too tough (15%). A substantial number of Republicans (37%) continue to believe that the press is going easy on Obama (down slightly from 42% in early March). Conversely, among Democrats the number who believe that the coverage of Obama has been too tough increased from 7% in early March to 19% now.

For presumptive Republican nominee John McCain more than six-in-ten Americans (62%) say that the press has treated his campaign fairly and fewer than one-in-ten (9%) call the coverage of McCain too tough. Comparable to the other candidates, almost one-in-five (18%) says the press has been too easy on McCain. Partisanship continues to drive views of the tone of coverage. A larger share of Democrats (25%) than Republicans (7%) believe that the press is going too easy on.

Where opinions may have changed over the course of March about the tone of campaign coverage occurs among Democrats and independents who lean Democratic. Among this group, a majority (61%) say the press coverage of Obama has been fair. However, the share of Democrats and Democratic leaners saying that coverage of his campaign has been too tough increased significantly over the last three weeks (11% to 19%) in the aftermath of steady news coverage about controversial remarks by Obama’s former pastor and the Senator’s speech on race and politics in America.

Surging Interest in Troubled U.S. Economy

Public attention to reports about the condition of the U.S. economy reached a 15 year high last week with 45% of the public following this news very closely. This is up from two weeks prior when 38% reported following news about the U.S. economy very closely and substantially higher than last fall when less than three-in-ten followed U.S. economic news very closely. The last time the condition of the U.S. economy drew this much attention was in February 1993 when 49% of the public said they followed economic news very closely.

The big economic news story last week was the buyout of Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns by J.P. Morgan Chase with the financial backing of the Federal Reserve. Almost half of the public said that they followed news about the buyout either very closely (21%) or fairly closely (26%), but the story attracted far less interest than the condition of the U.S. economy in general (78% very or fairly closely). Those in the top income tiers paid closer attention to news about the Bear Stearns buyout than did those with lower annual incomes. Among those earning $75,000 annually, 27% reported following this story very closely compared to 17% of those earning between $30,000 and $49,999 and 16% of those earning less than $30,000. Income differences do not affect the level of attention paid to the condition of the U.S. economy in general.

Campaign Tops News Interest

One-in Three Americans (34%) paid very close attention to news about the presidential campaign and roughly the same proportion (32%) listed this as their most closely followed story of the week. Republicans and Democrats followed campaign news equally closely last week. Coverage of the campaign well surpassed all other major stories. Campaign coverage accounted for 39% of the newshole and was particularly dominant on cable news television, where the campaign made up three-quarters (73%) of all news.

The Iraq war was the public’s third most closely followed story last week (11% called it their top story). Three-in-ten continue to follow news about the situation in Iraq very closely, generally unchanged from recent surveys. Public interest in the Iraq policy debate, which was back in the news last week largely because of the 5th anniversary of the war, was unchanged from its level in early December. One-in-five (21%) followed the Iraq policy debate very closely and 3% said this was the story they followed most closely. The national news media devoted 3% of its overall coverage to events in Iraq and 5% to the Iraq policy debate.

There was relatively little public interest in violent protests in Tibet against the Chinese government. Overall, just 12% say they paid very close attention to this story, roughly equal to the number who followed the news about pro-democracy protests in Burma last fall (13% followed Burma very closely). Just 4% listed violence in Tibet as their most closely followed story while, for the national news media, stories about China and Tibet were the third biggest news story of the week accounting for 4% of total coverage.

About the News Interest Index

The News Interest Index is a weekly survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press aimed at gauging the public’s interest in and reaction to major news events.

This project has been undertaken in conjunction with the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, an ongoing content analysis of the news. The News Coverage Index catalogues the news from top news organizations across five major sectors of the media: newspapers, network television, cable television, radio and the internet. Each week (from Sunday through Friday) PEJ will compile this data to identify the top stories for the week. The News Interest Index survey will collect data from Friday through Monday to gauge public interest in the most covered stories of the week.

Results for the weekly surveys are based on telephone interviews among a nationwide sample of approximately 1,000 adults, 18 years of age or older, conducted under the direction of ORC (Opinion Research Corporation). For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls, and that results based on subgroups will have larger margins of error.

For more information about the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, go to www.journalism.org.