(Week of 4/28/2012) In the aftermath of last week’s Supreme Court hearings about the constitutionality of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, the latest Economist/YouGov Poll shows that Americans approve of the law by a wide margin. However, the country is split sharply along racial lines on this issue — while 63% of whites approve of the legislation, 55% of Hispanics disapprove. Blacks are very closely divided, with a plurality supporting the law. Republicans are overwhelmingly in favor of the law (89%-5%), while Democrats are more narrowly divided but generally opposed to it (36%-48%). The parties are strongly at odds on the ... read more

Religion may divide the major political parties, but just how deep do these divisions go?  In a recent YouGov survey, we seized the opportunity to find out how people spent Easter by asking respondents what they did to celebrate the holiday. How different are the religious lives of Democrats and Republicans? In one important aspect, they are significantly different. To celebrate Easter, 40% of Republicans attended church, while only 22% of Democrats did so. Republicans were also more likely to buy a new outfit for Easter, which is likely an artifact of church attendance. Once we explore behavior beyond church ... read more

Since assuming the presidency, Barack Obama has been plagued by rumors that he is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and, as a result, is not eligible to serve as president. The most common claim is that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, but other stories abound. These rumors have shown a surprising resilience over the last four years. In fact, polls conducted by numerous media organizations repeatedly demonstrated that a significant portion of the American public claimed that Obama was not born in the United States, while many others were not sure if he was. Time ... read more