The 2017 Chicago Council Survey continues the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' series of investigations into American public opinion on United States foreign policy. These studies were conducted quadrennially from 1974 to 2002, biennially from 2002 to 2014, and are now conducted annually. They are designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public on matters related to foreign policy, and to define the parameters of public opinion within which decision-makers must operate. This public opinion study of the United States focused on respondents' opinions of the United States' leadership role in the world and the challenges the country faces domestically and internationally. Data were collected on a wide range of international topics, including: United States' relations with other countries, role in foreign affairs, possible threats to vital interests in the next ten years, foreign policy goals, international trade, the United States' participation in potential treaties, the United States' commitment to NATO, the basing of American troops abroad, policy towards the conflict in Syria, and the United States' relations with other countries. Respondents were also asked their opinion on US institutions, the US president, and federal government programs. Demographic information collected includes age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, left-right political self-placement, political affiliation, employment status, highest level of education, religious preference, household income, state of residence, and living quarters ownership status.

The Chicago Council Surveys are part of a long-running series of public opinion surveys conducted by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs beginning in 1974. They were conducted quadrennially from 1974 to 2002, biennially from 2002 to 2014, and are now conducted annually. The surveys are designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public on matters related to foreign policy, and to define the parameters of public opinion within which decision-makers must operate. This public opinion study of the United States focused on respondents' opinions of the United States' leadership role in the world and the challenges the country faces domestically and internationally. Data were collected on a wide range of international topics, including: United States' relations with other countries, role in foreign affairs, possible threats to vital interests in the next ten years, foreign policy goals, situations that might justify the use of United States troops in other parts of the world, international trade, United States' participation in potential treaties, U.S. policy towards Russia in Ukraine, the embargo on Cuba and the effects of renewed diplomatic relations with Havana, views of the nuclear deal with Iran and what effects that deal is likely to have, and United States' relations with allies in Asia. Respondents were also asked their opinion on domestic issues including climate change, measures to improve the United States' economic competitiveness, and their views on US immigration policy. Demographic information collected includes age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, left-right political self-placement, political affiliation, employment status, highest level of education, and religious preference, household income, state of residence, and living quarters ownership status.

The National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) is an annual survey of U.S. adults conducted by the "https://www.pewresearch.org/" Target="_blank">Pew Research Center. The Pew Research Center uses NPORS to produce benchmark estimates for several topics, including Americans' political and religion affiliations.

"https://www.ipsos.com/en-us" Target="_blank">Ipsos conducted the "https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/2024/07/08/how-pew-research-center-uses-its-national-public-opinion-reference-survey-npors/" Target="_blank">NPORS for Pew using address-based sampling and a multimode protocol. The survey was fielded Feb. 1, 2024, to June 10, 2024. Participants were first mailed an invitation to complete an online survey. A paper survey was later mailed to those who did not respond. In total, 2,535 respondents completed the survey online, 2,764 respondents completed the paper survey, and 327 respondents completed the survey over the phone (Total N=5,626). The survey was administered in English and Spanish. The AAPOR Response Rate 1 was 32 percent.

In 2024, 64 percent of survey respondents stated they think immigration is a good thing for the United States, which is a decrease from the previous year when 68 percent considered immigration a good thing. A further 32 percent of respondents said that they felt immigration was a bad thing for the country.

In 2022, Democrats were by far the most likely group in the U.S. to consider the news media to be favorable, with 45 percent of respondents to a survey held that year having a positive opinion of the news, compared to only eight percent of Republicans.

Firms in this industry take surveys from a sample of the population and extrapolate the data to make generalities about public opinion.

The National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) is an annual survey of U.S. adults conducted by the "https://www.pewresearch.org/" Target="_blank">Pew Research Center. The Pew Research Center uses NPORS to produce benchmark estimates for several topics, including Americans' political and religion affiliations.

"https://www.ipsos.com/en-us" Target="_blank">Ipsos conducted the "https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/2024/07/08/how-pew-research-center-uses-its-national-public-opinion-reference-survey-npors/" Target="_blank">NPORS for Pew using address-based sampling and a multimode protocol. The survey was fielded May 19, 2023, to Sep. 5, 2023. Participants were first mailed an invitation to complete an online survey. A paper survey was later mailed to those who did not respond. In total, 2,217 respondents completed the survey online, and 3,516 respondents completed the paper survey (Total N=5,733). The survey was administered in English and Spanish. The AAPOR Response Rate 1 was 31 percent.

This study is part of a quadrennial series designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public and a select group of opinion leaders on matters related to foreign policy, and to define the parameters of public opinion within which decision-makers must operate. Part 1 consists of data acquired from interviews of leaders with foreign policy power, specialization, and expertise. These include Congressional members or their senior staff, university administrators and academics who teach in the area of international relations, journalists and editorial staff who handle international news, administration officials and other senior staff in various agencies and offices dealing with foreign policy, religious leaders, senior business executives from FORTUNE 1,000 corporations, labor presidents of the largest labor unions, presidents of major private foreign policy organizations, and presidents of major special interest groups relevant to foreign policy. For Part 2, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (CCFR) conducted its opinion survey of the American general public through the Internet. In particular, this study covers the global United States position, international norms and the use of force, multilateralism and international institutions, international norms and economic relations, and policy attitudes and perceptions of United States leaders and the public. Regarding the global United States position, respondents were asked to give their opinions on threats to the vital interests that most Americans consider critical, the fundamental foreign policy goals that they want to pursue, how much they are willing to spend on foreign policy-related items, whether they favor the United States having military bases overseas in general and their support for stationing troops in various specified countries, their views on the Middle East, how active the United States should be in world affairs, their willingness to take action against terrorism, and their support for diplomatic and other nonmilitary actions to solve conflicts. On the topic of international norms and the use of force, respondents gave their opinions on adhering to traditional norms and empowering the United Nations, preventive action against a state seeking weapons of mass destruction, using force against a state supporting terrorists, the use of nuclear weapons, the use of torture, using force against a state conduction genocide, using force to restore a democratic government, and defending a country that has been attacked. Concerning multilateralism and international institutions, respondents were asked their level of support for collective decision-making through international institutions and for empowering the United Nations, their attitudes toward other major international organizations, their support for international agreements, their desire to seek consensus among nations, and their opinions on the idea of spreading democracy. On the subject of international norms and economic relations, respondents were asked about pursuing free trade with certain conditions, globalization and trade in principle, their support for the trading system and institutions, their concerns about inequities, and their opinions on mitigating the effects of trade, achieving equity in trade, trade as a strategic tool, responsibility for development aid, regional trade agreements, and migration. For the sake of comparison, Parts 1 and 2 include many of the same questions asked of both groups. Background information on respondents includes religion, age, income, education, gender, marital status, and employment status. Part 3 is a special telephone survey of the general public designed to be directly comparable to the telephone survey of 2002.

In 2024, 28 percent of survey respondents were satisfied with the level of immigration into the United States, while 64 percent of the respondents were dissatisfied. The year before, 28 percent of respondents were satisfied with the level of immigration into the country, and 63 percent were dissatisfied.

Abstract

The Gallup Poll Social Series (GPSS) is a set of public opinion surveys designed to monitor U.S. adults' views on numerous social, economic, and political topics. The topics are arranged thematically across 12 surveys. Gallup administers these surveys during the same month every year and includes the survey's core trend questions in the same order each administration. Using this consistent standard allows for unprecedented analysis of changes in trend data that are not susceptible to question order bias and seasonal effects.

Introduced in 2001, the GPSS is the primary method Gallup uses to update several hundred long-term Gallup trend questions, some dating back to the 1930s. The series also includes many newer questions added to address contemporary issues as they emerge.

The dataset currently includes responses from up to and including 2025.

Methodology

Gallup conducts one GPSS survey per month, with each devoted to a different topic, as follows:

January: Mood of the Nation

February: World Affairs

March: Environment

April: Economy and Finance

May: Values and Beliefs

June: Minority Rights and Relations (discontinued after 2016)

July: Consumption Habits

August: Work and Education

September: Governance

October: Crime

November: Health

December: Lifestyle (conducted 2001-2008)

The core questions of the surveys differ each month, but several questions assessing the state of the nation are standard on all 12: presidential job approval, congressional job approval, satisfaction with the direction of the U.S., assessment of the U.S. job market, and an open-ended measurement of the nation's "most important problem." Additionally, Gallup includes extensive demographic questions on each survey, allowing for in-depth analysis of trends.

Interviews are conducted with U.S. adults aged 18 and older living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia using a dual-frame design, which includes both landline and cellphone numbers. Gallup samples landline and cellphone numbers using random-digit-dial methods. Gallup purchases samples for this study from Survey Sampling International (SSI). Gallup chooses landline respondents at random within each household based on which member had the next birthday. Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Gallup conducts interviews in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking.

Gallup interviews a minimum of 1,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older for each GPSS survey. Samples for the June Minority Rights and Relations survey are significantly larger because Gallup includes oversamples of Blacks and Hispanics to allow for reliable estimates among these key subgroups.

Gallup weights samples to correct for unequal selection probability, nonresponse, and double coverage of landline and cellphone users in the two sampling frames. Gallup also weights its final samples to match the U.S. population according to gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, population density, and phone status (cellphone only, landline only, both, and cellphone mostly).

Demographic weighting targets are based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population. Phone status targets are based on the most recent National Health Interview Survey. Population density targets are based on the most recent U.S. Census.

Usage

The year appended to each table name represents when the data was last updated. For example, January: Mood of the Nation - 2025 has survey data collected up to and including 2025.

For more information about what survey questions were asked over time, see the Supporting Files.

Public opinion poll on: Congress; Economics; Elections; Ideology; Information; Middle East; Mood; Notable People; Political Partisanship; Presidency; Presidential Approval; Problems; Ratings; Religion; Terrorism; Values; Veterans; Vote for President; War.

The National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) is an annual survey of U.S. adults conducted by the Pew Research Center. Respondents can answer either by paper or online, and they are selected using address-based sampling. The Pew Research Center uses NPORS to produce benchmark estimates for several topics, such as Americans' political and religious affiliations.

NPORS was conducted for the Pew Research Center by Ipsos. Participants were first mailed an invitation to complete an online survey. A paper survey was later mailed to those who did not respond. In total, 1,550 respondents completed the survey online and 2,387 respondents completed the paper survey. The survey was administered in English and Spanish.

The most recent polling data from February 2025 puts the approval rating of the United States Congress at 29 percent, reflecting a significant increase from January. The approval rating remained low throughout the 118th Congress cycle, which began in January 2025. Congressional approval Congressional approval, particularly over the past few years, has not been high. Americans tend to see Congress as a group of ineffectual politicians who are out of touch with their constituents. The 118th Congress began in 2023 with a rocky start. The Democratic Party maintains control of the Senate, but Republicans took back control of the House of Representatives after the 2022 midterm elections. The House caught media attention from its first days with a contentious fight for the position of Speaker of the House. Representative Kevin McCarthy was eventually sworn in as Speaker after a historic fifteen rounds of voting. Despite the current Congress having a historic share of women and being the most diverse Congress in American history, very little has been done to improve the opinion of Americans regarding its central lawmaking body. Ye of little faith However, Americans tend not to have much confidence in many of the institutions in the United States. Additionally, public confidence in the ability of the Republican and Democratic parties to work together has decreased drastically between 2008 and 2022, with nearly 60 percent of Americans having no confidence the parties can govern in a bipartisan way.

Graph and download economic data for Total Revenue for Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling, All Establishments, Employer Firms (REVEF54191ALLEST) from 1998 to 2022 about public, employer firms, accounting, revenue, establishments, services, and USA.

This Gallup poll aims to collect the opinions of Canadians on issues of importance to the country and to the government. This survey focuses on mostly political topics, such as elections and voting, and the influence of the United States over Canada. Respondents were also asked questions so that they could be grouped according to geographic, demographic, and social variables. Topics of interest include: American investment in Canada, the American lifestyle; Canada's dependence on the United States, the federal election; financial dependence on the United States; government policy; how hard people work; religious services; Sunday school; union membership; and voting behaviour. Basic demographics variables are also included.

These data were gathered in personal interviews with a national sample of United States citizens by the Gallup Organization, Inc., to measure attitudes toward foreign affairs in November 1978. Respondents were asked to list the biggest problems facing the country, in general, as well as the biggest foreign policy problems. Other questions explored the relationship between domestic and foreign policy priorities, e.g., aid to education, defense spending, farm subsidies, economic and military aid to other nations, and domestic welfare/reliefprograms. Respondents gave their opinions of what constituted appropriate responses to the growing military power of the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), and they rated the threat that communism presented in several other countries. Respondents were asked to respond favorably or unfavorably to several scenarios in which the use of United States armed forces in other parts of the world could be justified. Respondents were asked to rate the performance of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and to use a "thermometer" scale to measure their feelings (warm or cold) toward several politicians and world leaders, as well as toward several countries that were important to the United States for political, economic, or security reasons. Opinions were sought about the type of role that various individuals and institutions (e.g., the president, the CIA, the military, the United Nations, and the Congress) should play in the creation of foreign policy. Respondents' political participation was also measured. Demographic information includes age, race, sex, income, sources of information in the media, religion, educational level, occupation, and political orientation. In a similar survey conducted from November 1978 to January 1979, many of the same questions were asked of Americans in senior positions with knowledge of and influence on foreign policy. The results of that survey are collected in AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY: NATIONAL LEADERS, 1979 (ICPSR 7786).

In 2023, the large majority of surveyed Americans believed that the cost of political campaigns made it more challenging for good people to run for office. Additionally, 72 percent agreed there should be limits on the amount of money spent on campaigns in the United States.

Public opinion poll on: Animals; Asia; Business; China; Communications Technology; Congress; Consumer; Economics; Elections; Energy; Environment; Europe; Family; Finances; Foreign Policy; Future; Government; Groups and Organizations; Health; Ideology; India; Information; Japan; Latin America; Local; Media; Mood; Notable People; Nuclear; Participation; Political Partisanship; Presidency; Regulation; Religion; Science; Social Media; Spending; States; Taxing; Technology; Television; Transportation.

United States (2006). Current AmericasBarometer surveys are available for current Harvard affiliates through the Library Databases: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:lapop