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Articles by Eric Plutzer
POLL: Americans Wary About The President Taking Unconventional Actions
Americans show a strong preference for their elected executives — governors as well as the president — to achieve their political goals through conventional, sometimes slow, procedures, according to the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll. Results showed marked partisan differences.
Poll: Americans wary about the President taking unconventional actions — APM Research Lab
Republicans are more supportive of unconventional presidential actions, but prefer the use of conventional actions to achieve policy goals DOCUMENTATION RELATED Americans show a strong preference for their elected executives — governors as well as the president — to achieve their political goals through conventional, sometimes slow, procedures, according to the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll. Results showed marked partisan differences.
Poll: Americans wary about the president taking unconventional actions
Americans show a strong preference for their elected executives — governors as well as the president — to achieve their political goals through conventional, sometimes slow, procedures, according to the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll. Results showed marked partisan differences.
Close Harris-Trump race appears influenced by voters' opinions on democracy — APM Research Lab
New Mood of the Nation Poll finds Harris with a narrow three percentage point lead, within the survey’s margin of error DOCUMENTATION RELATED The McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s new Mood of the Nation Poll finds Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump locked in a close race for the national popular vote. Forty-eight percent of the likely electorate plans to vote for Harris, while 45% plan to vote for Trump.
Poll: In the midst of a tight presidential race, Trump draws support from voters disillusioned with democracy
The McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s new Mood of the Nation Poll finds Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump locked in a close race for the national popular vote. Forty-eight percent of the likely electorate plans to vote for Harris, while 45 percent plan to vote for Trump. Given the poll’s ±4.2 percentage point margin of error, as well as the five percent of the electorate that remains undecided, the lead in the race is unclear.
An Angry Nation
Nine in 10 Americans can name either a recent news event or something about American politics that made them angry, while only half could identify a recent news event or something about American politics that made them proud, according to the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll, conducted with 997 American adults from Jan. 11 to 17, 2024.
Mood of the Nation: Angry
Nine in ten Americans can name either a recent news event or something about American politics that made them angry, while only half could identify a recent news event or something about American politics that made them proud, according to the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll. It was conducted with 997 American adults from Jan. 11 to 17.
Poll: A majority of Americans support universal background checks, gun licensing and an assault weapons ban — APM Research Lab
Over half of both Second Amendment supporters and Republicans favor universal background checks and gun licensing provisions DOCUMENTATION RELATED The McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll, conducted from May 12-18, 2023, finds that 86% of American adults support U.S. Congress mandating background checks for all firearm sales and transfers.
Poll: A majority of Americans support universal background checks, gun licensing and an assault weapons ban
The McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll, conducted from May 12-18, 2023, finds that 86 percent of American adults support U.S. Congress mandating background checks for all firearm sales and transfers. Nearly three-quarters support Congress requiring gun owners to take a test, obtain a license and register their firearms, similar to the process of owning an automobile.
Poll: What Americans think about religious work exemptions — APM Research Lab
DOCUMENTATION RELATED RECENT In the 1960s, so-called “Blue Laws” were under attack for restricting freedom because they prevented people from working on Sundays. Since that time, work on Sunday—and other religious holidays—has proliferated. Now, in Groff v. Dejoy the Supreme Court is poised to rule on whether the government, and possibly other employers, can make work on religiously significant days a non-negotiable part of someone’s job description.
On the brink of a potential overturn of Roe v. Wade, Americans are divided on abortion — APM Research Lab
The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision according to a leaked draft opinion first obtained by Politico. At this historic moment it is worth taking a look at Americans’ opinions on abortion, and how those opinions follow demographic, socio-economic and political lines.
Survey results: A majority of Americans disapprove of President Biden's job performance — APM Research Lab
DOCUMENTATION RELATED STORIES The McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State’s most recent Mood of the Nation Poll, conducted Nov. 30-Dec.7, 2021, finds that over half the American public disapproves of the job that Joe Biden is doing as president. Perhaps more importantly, the survey provides a window directly into the reasons behind the low approval ratings received by Mr. Biden less than a year into his presidency.
Teaching evolution in U.S. public schools: a continuing challenge
Abstract Background Over a decade ago, the first nationally representative probability survey concerning the teaching of evolution revealed disquieting facts about evolution education in the United States. This 2007 survey found that only about one in three public high school biology teachers presented evolution consistently with the recommendations of the nation’s leading scientific authorities.
New poll: Voters are just as angry as in 2016
Voters this fall aren’t just sharply polarized; they’re also very angry — whether they’re Democrats, Republicans or even independents. In partnership with YouGov, Penn State’s McCourtney Institute of Democracy has been polling Americans to assess the overall mood of the nation. We conduct each poll over the Internet with a non-probability sample of 1,000 Americans selected to closely match the characteristics of all U.S. adults.
In Trump's America, is the Supreme Court still seen as legitimate?
On Oct. 10, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments about the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The justices may rule that Trump has exceeded his constitutional authority, or they may dodge the issue entirely, saying that the travel ban’s scheduled Sept. 24 end date takes the decision out of the court’s hands. Regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision, some Americans will agree and others will not.
In Trump's America, is the Supreme Court still seen as legitimate?
On Oct. 10, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments about the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The justices may rule that Trump has exceeded his constitutional authority, or they may dodge the issue entirely, saying that the travel ban’s scheduled Sept. 24 end date takes the decision out of the court’s hands. Regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision, some Americans will agree and others will not.
Analysis | New poll: only 3% of Trump voters regret their vote
Monkey Cage Analysis Analysis Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events A “Vote!” flag waves above Interstate 35 as motorists pass in San Antonio on Nov. 8, 2016. (Eric Gay/AP) March 22, 2017 Within weeks of the November 2016 U.S. presidential election, social media posts expressing voters’ second thoughts began trending.
Mood of the Nation poll was developed at Penn State
Editor’s note: The Focus on Research column highlights different research projects and topics being explored at Penn State. Each column will feature the work of a different researcher from across all disciplines.As Americans grieved after the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando last month, Democrats and Republicans reacted quite differently to the news, according to a new “Mood of the Nation” poll developed by Penn State’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy.
Climate confusion among U.S. teachers
Although more than 95% of active climate scientists attribute recent global warming to human causes (1, 2) and most of the general public accepts that climate change is occurring, only about half of U.S. adults believe that human activity is the predominant cause (3), which is the lowest among 20 nations polled in 2014 (4).
Enablers of Doubt
Evolution deniers do not need to establish their own scientific position but merely cast doubt on some aspect of evolution or obtain a small amount of legitimacy for creationism or intelligent design to sow sufficient doubt in the mainstream. This doubt is one of three pillars, along with demands for equal time and the incompatibility of science and religion, that Eugenie Scott has argued define contemporary anti-evolution efforts.
Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America's Classrooms
Airasian, Peter 1988 Symbolic Validation: The Case of State-Mandated, High-Stakes TestingEducational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 4 301 Alters, Brian J.Nelson, Craig E. 2002 Perspective: Teaching Evolution in Higher EducationEvolution: International Journal of Organic Evolution 56 1891 Althaus, Scott 1998 Information Effects in Collective PreferencesAmerican Political Science Review 92 545 Alwin, Duane F.
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