The ANES Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior

The Guide provides immediate access to tables and graphs that display the ebb and flow of public opinion, electoral behavior, and choice in American politics over time. It serves as a resource for political observers, policy makers, and journalists, teachers, students, and social scientists.

Summary Evaluations

Average Feeling Thermometer Rating Toward Presidential Candidates 1968 - 2020

Average Feeling Thermometer Rating Toward Vice-Presidential Candidates 1968 - 2020

Candidate Affect

Has Democratic Presidential Candidate Made Respondent Feel Angry 1980 - 2016

Has Democratic Presidential Candidate Made Respondent Feel Afraid 1980 - 2016

Has Democratic Presidential Candidate Made Respondent Feel Hopeful 1980 - 2016

Has Democratic Presidential Candidate Made Respondent Feel Proud 1980 - 2016

Has Republican Presidential Candidate Made Respondent Feel Angry 1980 - 2016

Has Republican Presidential Candidate Made Respondent Feel Afraid 1980 - 2016

Has Republican Presidential Candidate Made Respondent Feel Hopeful 1980 - 2016

Has Republican Presidential Candidate Made Respondent Feel Proud 1980 - 2016

Candidate Traits

Democratic Presidential Candidate Provides Strong Leadership (4-Point Scale) 1980 - 2008

Democratic Presidential Candidate Provides Strong Leadership (5-Point Scale) 2008 - 2020

Democratic Presidential Candidate Provides Strong Leadership 1980 - 2020

Democratic Presidential Candidate Really Cares About People Like You (4-Point Scale) 1984 - 2008

Democratic Presidential Candidate Really Cares About People Like You (5-Point Scale) 2008 - 2020

Democratic Presidential Candidate Really Cares About People Like You 1984 - 2020

Democratic Presidential Candidate Is Knowledgeable (4-Point Scale) 1980 - 2008

Democratic Presidential Candidate Is Knowledgeable (5-Point Scale) 2008 - 2020

Democratic Presidential Candidate Is Knowledgeable 1980 - 2020

Democratic Presidential Candidate Is Honest 2008 - 2020

Republican Presidential Candidate Provides Strong Leadership (4-Point Scale) 1980 - 2008

Republican Presidential Candidate Provides Strong Leadership (5-Point Scale) 2008 - 2020

Republican Presidential Candidate Provides Strong Leadership 1980 - 2020

Republican Presidential Candidate Really Cares About People Like You (4-Point Scale) 1984 - 2008

Republican Presidential Candidate Really Cares About People Like You (5-Point Scale) 2008 - 2020

Republican Presidential Candidate Really Cares About People Like You 1984 - 2020

Republican Presidential Candidate Is Knowledgeable (4-Point Scale) 1980 - 2008

Republican Presidential Candidate Is Knowledgeable (5-Point Scale) 2008 - 2020

Republican Presidential Candidate Is Knowledgeable 1980 - 2020

Republican Presidential Candidate Is Honest 2008 - 2020

Social Welfare, Healthcare, and Education

Government Support for Health Care 1956 - 1968

Government vs Private Health Care (7 point scale) 1970 - 2020

Government vs Private Health Care (3 point scale) 1970 - 2020

Government Guaranteed Job and Standard of Living (7 point scale) 1972 - 2020

Government Guaranteed Job and Standard of Living (3 point scale) 1972 - 2020

Government Services and Spending (7 point scale) 1982 - 2020

Government Services and Spending (3 point scale) 1982 - 2020

Federal spending on Social Security 1984 - 2020

Federal spending on public schools 1984 - 2020

Federal spending on child care 1988 - 2016

Federal spending to aid the poor 1992 - 2020

Economy, Budget, and Taxes

Retrospective Economic Evaluation (last year) 1980 - 2020

Prospective Economic Evaluation (next year) 1980 - 2020

Economy good or bad 2012 - 2020

Retrospective Evaluation of Personal Finances (last year) 1962 - 2020

Prospective Evaluation of Personal Finances (next year) 1956 - 2020

How worried about personal finances? 2012 - 2020

Unemployment gotten better or worse 1986 - 2020

Inflation gotten better or worse 1986 - 2008

Gap between rich and poor getting wider? 2004 - 2020

Favor/oppose gov't trying to reduce income differences 2012 - 2020

Favor/oppose increased taxes on millionaires 2012 - 2020

Importance of reducing budget deficit 2012 - 2020

Social and Cultural Issues

Equal Role for Women 1972 - 2008

When should abortion be allowed 1972 - 1980

By law, when should abortion be allowed 1980 - 2020

Protect gays & lesbians from discrimination 1988 - 2020

Allow gays & lesbians to adopt 1992 - 2020

Same-sex marriage views 2012 - 2020

School Prayer should be allowed (yes/no) 1964 - 1984

School Prayer should be allowed (4 point scale) 1986 - 1998

Guns and Crime

Federal spending on crime 1984 - 2020

Favor/oppose death penalty 1988 - 2020

Make it easier/harder to buy a gun 2000 - 2020

Importance of gun control to respondent 2000 - 2020

Military and Foreign Policy

U.S. Should Not Concern Itself with World Problems 1956 - 2020

US position grown weaker or stronger 1958 - 2020

Cut Military Spending (yes/no) 1972 - 1976

Increase/Decrease Military Spending (7 point scale) 1980 - 2020

Increase/Decrease Military Spending (3 point scale) 1980 - 2020

Immigration, Trade, and Globalization

Immigrants should be decreased/increased 1992 - 2020

Immigrants take away jobs 2004 - 2020

Average Feeling Thermometer Rating Toward Illegal Immigrants 1988 - 2020

Federal spending on border security 1996 - 2020

Favor/oppose limits on imports 1988 - 2020

Race

Aid to Blacks/Minorities (7 point scale) 1970 - 2020

Aid to Blacks/Minorities (3 point scale) 1970 - 2020

Affirmative action in hiring/promotion 1986 - 2020

Change in Situation of Blacks 1964 - 1994

Pace of Civil Rights Leaders' Actions 1964 - 1992

Favor Desegregation or Segregation 1964 - 1978

Federal Government Ensure School Integration 1962 - 2000

Busing to Achieve School Integration 1972 - 1984

Open Housing 1964 - 1976

Government See to Fair Treatment in Jobs 1964 - 2012

Environment

Tougher environmental regulations, or regulations a burden? (7 point scale) 1996 - 2020

Tougher environmental regulations, or regulations a burden? (3 point scale) 1996 - 2020

Federal spending on the environment 1984 - 2020

Trust in Government

Trust the Federal Government (4-point Scale) 1958 - 2012

Trust the Federal Government (5-point Scale) 2012 - 2020

Is the Government Run for the Benefit of All 1964 - 2020

Are Government Officials Crooked 1958 - 2012

How many Government Officials are Corrupt 2012 - 2020

Do People in Government Waste Tax Money 1958 - 2020

Trust in Government Index 1958 - 2020

Efficacy

Politics Too Complicated (agree/disagree) 1952 - 2012

Politics Too Complicated (how often) 2008 - 2020

Understand Political Issues 2008 - 2020

People Don't Have a Say in What the Government Does 1952 - 2020

Public Officials Don't Care What People Think 1952 - 2020

External Political Efficacy Index 1952 - 2020

Government Responsiveness and Democratic Integrity

How Much Does the Government Listen to the People 1964 - 2004

Elections Make the Government Pay Attention 1964 - 2020

Government Responsiveness Index 1964 - 2020

Makes a big difference who is in power 2008 - 2020

How satisfied with way democracy works 2004 - 2020

How often are votes counted fairly 2016 - 2020

Approval and Evaluations of Government

Things in this country on Right track/wrong track 1992 - 2020

Approval of President 1972 - 2020

Approval of Presidential handling of economy 1984 - 2020

Approval of Presidential handling of foreign affairs 1984 - 2020

Approval of Presidential handling of health care 1996 - 2020

Approval of Congress 1980 - 2020

Average Feeling Thermometer Rating toward Congress 1980 - 2020

Approval of House incumbent 1980 - 2020

How well does House incumbent stay in touch with district 1986 - 2020

Average Feeling Thermometer Rating toward US Supreme Court 1980 - 2020

Important Note on Retired Charts: Several charts in the old version of the Guide have been retired and thus are not included in this version. These charts feature trends that are no longer updated (because ANES stopped asking the question in its Time Series surveys) and/or are likely to be of less interest to contemporary users. Email us at [email protected] about these retired charts in the old version of the Guide.