Where Are We Going – Trends from 1994 to 2007, Civil Liberties, Environment and Science

Summarized below are the major findings from section 8 of the Pew Research survey, Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007.

What are the rights of those who are believed or accused of being terrorist sympathizers? There is a major difference between what republicans believe and what the rest of the country believes. According to the survey:

Despite the modest overall shift in opinions on this issue, Republican support for warrantless searches of those who may be sympathetic to terrorists has grown substantially. Nearly half of conservative Republicans (47%) now believe such searches should be allowed, up from 34% in 2003. The change among moderate and liberal Republicans has been even more striking. More than twice as many favor warrantless searches of possible terrorist sympathizers’ houses than did so four years ago (49% vs. 23%).

By contrast, Democrats are less supportive of allowing the police to conduct warrantless searches of the houses of people who may sympathize with terrorists than they were four years ago. Among conservative and moderate Democrats, 37% believe such warrantless searches should be permitted, compared with 40% in 2003. And just 19% of liberal Democrats believe such searches are acceptable, down from 28% in 2003.

Another dichotomy between republicans and the rest of the country, is on the subject of giving up civil rights in the hope of curbing terrorism. According to the survey, “There continue to be partisan differences in views of whether average people will need to give up some liberties to curb terrorism. Most Republicans (51%) say such sacrifices will be necessary, but just 35% of Democrats and 37% of independents share this belief.“

In the current survey, however, there has been a sharp increase in partisan differences over whether the nation needs stricter environmental laws. Currently, 95% of Democrats and 85% of independents say that stricter environmental laws are needed, but just 65% of Republicans agree. The views of Democrats and independents have not changed significantly since the previous values survey in 2003. But fewer Republicans support tougher environmental laws and regulations than did so then (79% vs. 65%). And the partisan divide on this issue, which was 17 points in the last survey, has ballooned to 30 points. In 1992, the first time this question was asked, partisan differences were much narrower (seven points).