June 29, 2008 9:00 AM
State of the Nation
The country is headed in the wrong direction. So say Americans by 71%-16%.By 69%-25%, Americans believe that their country is in a state of decline. [NBC/WSJ 6/08]
80% are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country, while 14% are satisfied. [Newsweek 6/08]
For the second month in a row 86% of Americans believe the economy is getting worse, and that includes 83% of those making $90,000 a year or more. [Gallup]
No surprise, college graduates are less pessimistic about the U.S. economy than Americans at large or those who are not college graduates. The spread is 14 percentage points between the graduates and non-graduates. [Gallup]
Of the 3 branches of the Federal government, the only branch which has a job approval rating higher than its disapproval rating is the Supreme Court. However, even that body cannot muster majority approval. 48% approve while 38% disapprove. [Gallup 5/08]
High gasoline and diesel prices have caused us to be more supportive - 57% - of drilling for oil in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas that are currently off limits. [Gallup 5/08]
The price of gasoline is having an effect on how people live. Here are the 5 top impacts that Americans report:
- 15% cannot afford cost of driving/commuting
- 11% limiting/cutting back on travel, vacations
- 11% have little or no disposable income/eating into budget
- 10% staying home more/not going out much or at all
- 10% driving less
Tax rebates do not seem to have affected how folks rate current economic conditions. 43% of those who have received their rebates and 43% of those who have not received rebates rate the economy as "poor". [Gallup 5/08]
Confidence in U.S. banks has dropped to 32%. This is a drop of 17 percentage points from June 2006, and a drop of 28 percentage points from January 1980. [Gallup]
Where do you stand when it comes to the creation of human beings? Overall, 44% believe God created humans as of about 10,000 years ago. 36% say that humans developed over millions of years with God's guidance. 14% think that humans simply evolved without any form of divine intervention.
60% of Republicans, 40% of Independents and 38% of Democrats opt for the "created as is" theory. The more often a person attends church the more likely that he or she is to believe in this concept. [Gallup]
Over the last 4 years, there has been no change in the number of folks who prefer a smaller government with fewer services (50%) and those who prefer a larger government with more services (45%). [WP/ABC 6/08]
The Supreme Court has struck down the D.C. law limiting the ownership of handguns in the city. 73% of Americans believe that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of individual Americans to own guns. [Gallup 3/08]
In a BBC World Service Poll, taken across 34 countries from 10/31/07-1/25/08, views of the United States which were getting increasingly negative over the last two years, have finally started to improve.
The number of folks saying that the U.S. has a negative influence in the world has fallen from 55% to 49%. The number saying it has a positive influence has risen from 28% to 32%.
Here are the current results of attitudes toward a number of countries. In 25 of the 34 countries there is a range of percentages saying that the country has a mainly positive influence.
- Germany and Japan (each) 56%
- European Union 52%
- France and Great Britain (each) 50%
- China 47%
- Brazil 44%
- India 42%
- Russia 37%
- United States 35%
- North Korea 23%
- Iran 20%
- Israel 19%
- Pakistan 18%
Religion remains important in American life. 56% of Americans believe that religion is very important. This is somewhat truer of women (63%) than of men (49%).
- 2% believe in God or a universal spirit
- 74% believe in an afterlife
- 74% believe there is a heaven
- 59% say there is a hell
- 79% believe in miracles
- 68% believe in angels/demons
- 63% say their holy book is the word of God
- 93% of Jehovah's witnesses
- 92% of Mormons
- 86% of Muslims
- 77% of Protestants
- 62% of Catholics
- 59% of Orthodox Christians
- 37% of Jews
- 37% of Hindus
- 25% of Unaffiliated
- 18% of Buddhists
70% of Americans now believe that divorce is morally acceptable. This is the highest number Gallup has found, up from 58% in 2001. However, one of the primary reasons for which folks get divorced - infidelity - remains the behavior that most people find most morally wrong. 91% have this view. [Gallup 5/08]
Democrats (76%) are more likely than Republicans (41%) to believe that the effects of global warming have already begun. [Gallup 5/08]
"On the average day, 49% of Americans experience a lot of happiness and enjoyment without a lot of stress and worry, while 10% say they experience daily worry and stress that far outweighs their happiness and enjoyment." [Gallup 6/08]
