UPDATES

E-mail Updates

• No. 25, November 11, 2003
  

• No. 24, October 10, 2003
  

• No. 23, September 25, 2003
  

• No. 22, September 5, 2003
  

• No. 21, August 15, 2003
  

• No. 20, July 23, 2003
  

• No. 19, July 4, 2003
  

• No. 18, June 20, 2003
  

• No. 17, June 6, 2003
  

• No. 16, May 23, 2003
  

• No. 15, May 9, 2003
  

• No. 14, April 23, 2003
  

• No. 13, April 11, 2003
  

• No. 12, April 4, 2003
  

• No. 11, March 28, 2003
  

• No. 10, March 21, 2003
  

• No. 9, March 17, 2003
  

• No. 8, March 10, 2003
  

• No. 7, March 3, 2003
  

• No. 6. February 24, 2003
  

• No. 5, February 17, 2003
  

• No. 4, February 7, 2003
  

• No. 3, January 30, 2003
  

• No. 2, January 24, 2003
  

• No. 1, January 17, 2003

Latest Polls

(Previous poll results are contained within the email updates above)

Public confidence falls in Bush’s crisis handling ability

According to a CBS/New York Times poll conducted September 28 through October 1, President Bush’s approval ratings for handling the Iraq situation, and foreign policy in general, continue to decline. 44% of those Americans polled approve of the way the US President has been handling foreign policy, while 45% disapprove. Similarly, 47% approve of the way the President is handling the Iraq situation, 48% disapprove. 41% thought the war on Iraq was worth the loss of American life and other costs, with 53% saying it was not worth it. 

The CBS/NYT poll included broader foreign policy issues. People were asked whether the US should try to change a dictatorship into a democracy where it can, or stay out of other countries’ affairs. Among those polled, 21% said the US should try to change the dictatorship, while 61% said the United States should stay out. 55% feel the US should not attack another country unless the US is attacked first. 35% feel that the US should attack first.

People were also asked whether relations today between the US and its European allies, are better today, worse today or about the same as they were when George W. Bush took office. Only 9% said those relations are better than when the President took office, whereas 55% said those relations are now worse.

Misperceptions said to have driven support for war

On October 2, the Program on International Policy Attitudes and Knowledge Networks released a study based on a series of polls which reveal that Americans hold key misperceptions about issues surrounding the Iraq conflict. The study concludes that those misperceptions influenced American support for the war. Some findings from the polls over May to September include:

Support for the war among those who believed the US had found Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was 74%. Among those who did not believe the US found Iraqi WMD, 42% support the war. Among those who incorrectly believed that a majority of world opinion favoured the war, 77% thought going to war was the best decision. Among those who thought world opinion held views that were ‘evenly balanced’ regarding the US-led war, 52% thought it was the best decision. Out of those who understood that the majority of public opinion opposed the US-led war against Iraq, 28% approved of the decision to go to war.

Based on polls conducted June-September 2003, 67% supported the war and believed that the US had found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with the Al Qaeda terrorist organization. 29% showed support for the war and believed that the US had not found such evidence.

PIPA and KN examined how all three misperceptions influenced Americans' support for the war, including: the connection of Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks; the US discovery of Iraqi WMD; and world support for a US-led war.  Support for the war among those who held none of those misperceptions was 23%.  With one misperception, support for the war rises to 53%. Support for the war among those who held two of the misperceptions was 78%. For those who held all three misperceptions, approval of the Iraq war reached 86%. The PIPA/KN study also examined how American news broadcasts influenced perceptions about the Iraq conflict and support for the war.