January 12, 2009,

Introduction
A broad inspection of public opinion data on the state of our economy reveals that Americans are worried about the future, less than optimistic about government's ability to face down the crisis, and ambivalent about Keynesian approaches to recovery.  Furthermore, as they imagine future possibilities, they seem to be relying upon traditional partisan and ideological understandings of the economy.  Thus, Democrats are more likely to support government spending as a stimulus strategy while Republicans are more likely to support reduced taxation.  However, the high incidence of "don't know" and contradictory or otherwise ambivalent responses suggests that Americans may be open to bold leadership.

This report consists of three parts.  The first summarizes the current state of public opinion regarding the economic crisis and its implications for Obama's proposed stimulus plan.  Here, we draw on surveys by CNN, Politico, Rasmussen, Gallup, and NBC/WSJ.  The second part of the report summarizes longitudinal data from the General Social Survey culled together by our research team.  These data reflect Americans' longstanding ambivalence regarding public spending and taxation.  The third offers some broad recommendations for approaching economic recovery given the current state of public opinion.
 
The Current Situation
Right now, Americans are feeling the pinch.  Fully eighty-nine percent of Americans report being dissatisfied with the current economic situation (63% are "very dissatisfied") (Politico).  Sixty-eight percent report that they are changing their habits to reduce their overall household spending (Gallup 12/14/2008).  Of those who have money in the stock market, 87% report losing money.  Almost half of them (47%) say they have "lost a lot of money in the stock market" in the past year (ibid.). According to Rasmussen polling released in early January 2009, half of Americans (50%) say their personal financial situation is getting worse while only 19% say their situation is improving.  As a result of the paired housing and financial crises, Americans are much more worried about their ability to "maintain the standard of living [they] enjoy" than they were prior to April 2008 when the housing crisis came to a head (Gallup).

Continue reading "Opinion Matters: How are Americans Thinking About Economic Recovery?" »

An update to American Environics' previous Roadmap 2005, which contains a summary of how American values have evolved since 2004 and the results of the updated segmentation based upon the 2007 American Values Survey.



In 2005, American Environics created the first Road Map for a Progressive Majority, which used data from Environics' 3SC survey to map the social values of the American electorate to better understand the social values of the various "publics" in the United States.  At the time, American Environics was relatively new and the data used to create the initial roadmap was adapted from surveys primarily designed for commercial clients in the United States.

The Nathan Cummings Foundation provided seed funding in 2004 to create the first Road Map by adapting the existing Environics data set to create the initial segmentation of the U.S. population based upon its social values. The insights derived from the research in 2005 created a number of important insights to progressive organizations and groups attempting to advance a progressive agenda in a variety of public policy areas.  

The first Road Map provided detailed analysis of the progressive base, constituencies of opportunity, and methods to target both the base and the various swing constituencies. The study looked at the social values, demographics, issue positions, and media consumption habits of voters, and at the time represented the most comprehensive study of social values designed to help progressive organizations solve public policy problems.

By 2007, American Environics undertook the task of designing a new social values survey designed to cover a much larger number of social values related to public policy and social change. AE reduced the number of corporate and commercial social values and, working with social scientists, added a number of academically validated social values directly related to political decision making and attitudes on public policy issues. The result was a survey with more than 800 questions that tracks 130 social values constructs and attitudes on public policy issues from health care and immigration to nuclear proliferation and reproductive health. It also contains detailed questions on demographics, media consumption, and lifestyles. The American Values Survey is today the largest and most comprehensive research instrument available to progressive social change communities.

One of the primary goals of the survey was to create a new, more robust standard political segmentation system that can be used by a wide variety of progressive organizations to gain deep understandings as to the world views of key blocks of voters.

This update to the Road Map for a progressive Majority contains a summary of the new methodology used to gather data for the AVS, a brief summary of how social values have evolved since 2004, and the results of the updated segmentation based upon the 2007 American Values Survey.

Also Featured Inside:

-- Case Studies of Earthjustice, the Green Group Project, California Alliance, SCOPE, ACORN, the Herndon Alliance and more

-- Survey Methodology and American Values Survey Core Constructs explained

-- Evolution of American Social Values 2004 - 2007

-- The Political Values Segmentation System, and What it Means for Your Organization

-- America's 15 Distinct Psychographic Segments

Download the entire PDF here (1281 KB, November 2008)