Opinion Today
February 29, 2024
Reflecting Congressional divisions over U.S. involvement with Ukraine, Republicans are more reluctant than Democrats to intervene. AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research The public’s outlook on the outcomes of the war are pessimistic. Nearly half are not confident that Ukraine can win the war against Russia.
US adults fracture along party lines in support for Ukraine military funding, AP-NORC poll finds Stephen Groves & Linley Sanders, Associated Press As Russia makes battlefield advances and Ukrainian soldiers run short on ammunition, U.S. adults have become fractured along party lines in their support for sending military aid to Kyiv, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Americans Remain Committed to NATO, Critical of UN Mohamed Younis, Gallup A 47% plurality of Americans want to see the United States keep its current commitment to NATO, with 20% feeling support for the alliance should increase. Meanwhile, 16% think the U.S. should decrease its NATO commitment, and 12% would prefer that the U.S. withdraw from NATO entirely. Americans’ views of another international organization, the United Nations, remain largely negative as a steady 58% say it is doing a “poor job” trying to solve the problems it faces, while 33% think it is doing a good job.
Representative Democracy Remains a Popular Ideal, but People Around the World Are Critical of How It’s Working Pew Research Center Solid majorities in each of the 24 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center in 2023 describe representative democracy, or a democratic system where representatives elected by citizens decide what becomes law, as a somewhat or very good way to govern their country. However, enthusiasm for this form of government has slipped in many nations since 2017. And the survey highlights significant criticisms of the way it’s working.
Election Manipulation and Armed Conflict Drove 18th Consecutive Year of Decline in Freedom Freedom House The 51st edition of Freedom in the World finds that only 21 countries recorded improvements in 2023, while 52 suffered declines. Most Republicans say a criminal past is highly undesirable in a CEO; fewer say it is for a president Taylor Orth, YouGov A recent YouGov survey asked Americans whether 20 attributes (10 that generally are considered positive and 10 negative ones) better describe Biden or Trump — with options to say that each describes both men equally or neither of them. Before being asked about the specific candidates, respondents were asked which sets of three traits — from the same lists of 10 — they find most and least desirable in a president.
The main problems facing the U.S. Annaleise Azevedo Lohr & Charlie Rollason, Ipsos In February’s Reuters/Ipsos Core Political, political extremism and threats to democracy top Americans’ list of most important issues facing the country, followed closely by the economy and immigration. While Trump has an advantage over Biden on the economy and immigration, Americans are notably divided over whether Trump or Biden has a better approach to addressing political extremism or threats to democracy.
