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US Increasingly Divided
Just 32% of US adults believe the current state of the country is good, while 68% believe it is poor, according to a recent Harris Poll. The poll reveals a growing rift between Republicans and Democrats, something also identified by research from Ipsos Public Affairs and the Pew Research Center.
In the Harris Poll, most respondents rated the following US policies as poor: efforts to strengthen Social Security (80%), make prescription drugs affordable (77%), and make taxes fairer (76%); the war in Iraq (68%), the war or terrorism (56%) and the efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast (64%) and strengthen the economy (62%).
69% of Republicans rate the current state of the country as good, compared with just 9% of Democrats. 77% of Republicans (18% of Democrats) believe the war on terrorism is going well, and 63% of Republicans (7% of Democrats) feel the war in Iraq is going well.
There are also differences between generations. 'Matures' (those aged 65 and over), and Generation Xers (those aged 28 to 39) are more likely to think the war on terrorism is going well (48% and 47%, respectively), compared with 37% of Baby Boomers (aged 40 to 58) and 36% of Echo Boomers (those aged 18 to 27).
The poll was conducted online between January 12 and 17, 2006 among 1,518 US adults. Harris Interactive is online at www.harrisinteractive.com
New Ipsos research also shows a deep rift between Republican and Democrat voters in the US. In a survey conducted last week, more than 80% of Americans agree that Republicans and Democrats are more deeply divided now than four years ago about what needs to be done to make progress on critical national issues.
The biggest disagreements concern foreign policy and Iraq. Three-quarters or more of Republicans approve of the decision to go to war in Iraq, the current conduct of the war, and the overall direction of US foreign policy. Democrats disapprove in the same or even greater numbers.
In addition, 58% of Republicans think the country is heading in the right direction, while only 13% of Democrats agree. 78% of Republicans and just 11% of Democrats approve of the President's job performance - one of the widest gaps registered for a President since Eisenhower.
In an AP/Ipsos poll conducted in early January, half of Americans said they would like to see Congress controlled by the Democrats after the next election, while a third desire continued Republican control.
More details about Ipsos Public Affairs are online at www.ipsos-na.com/pa/us/
A study from the Pew Research Center also identifies growing differences between the views of Republicans and Democrats.
The survey, conducted in October, found that 42% thought the US should 'mind its own business' internationally. This figure has increased by 12 points in the last three years, and beats the previous peaks in 1995 and 1976 (both 41%).
Democrats were twice as likely as Republicans to say the US should mind its own business, and were also more likely to say it should 'concentrate more on our own national problems'. However, the rift between the two groups of voters has not always been as pronounced. According to Pew research, it is only since 2001 that Republicans have supported a more engaged foreign policy, and only since the war in Iraq that Democrats have moved in the other direction.
The study also found that Bush's wish to promote democracy around the world has not struck a chord with the public. Of 13 foreign policy priorities tested in the survey, 'promoting democracy in other nations' came last, rated as a top priority by fewer than one in four of both Republicans and Democrats. Top of the list was 'protecting against terror attacks' (86%), followed by 'protecting the jobs of American workers' (84%).
Just over half said the preemptive use of military force against those who threaten the US can at least sometimes be justified, yet 71% said the Iraq war was a major reason that people around the world are unhappy with the US.
The Pew Research Center is online at www.people-press.org
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