Politicians Should Follow the Advice of Relevant Experts (October 2012)
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology."
category | column-1 |
---|---|
Strongly agree | 25% |
Somewhat agree | 41% |
Somewhat disagree | 27% |
Strongly disagree | 8% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents. Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly agree | 33% | 36% | 14% |
Somewhat agree | 43% | 37% | 40% |
Somewhat disagree | 21% | 24% | 35% |
Strongly disagree | 4% | 3% | 12% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
category | Lean Republican | Not very strong Republican | Strong Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly agree | 19% | 7% | 12% |
Somewhat agree | 26% | 56% | 44% |
Somewhat disagree | 40% | 27% | 34% |
Strongly disagree | 15% | 9% | 10% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
category | Lean Democrat | Not very strong Democrat | Strong Democrat |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly agree | 30% | 31% | 35% |
Somewhat agree | 45% | 48% | 39% |
Somewhat disagree | 25% | 20% | 18% |
Strongly disagree | 0% | 1% | 7% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
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Strongly agree | 41% | 29% | 14% |
Somewhat agree | 37% | 43% | 40% |
Somewhat disagree | 21% | 23% | 33% |
Strongly disagree | 1% | 5% | 13% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
category | Leaning conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
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Strongly agree | 16% | 10% | 17% |
Somewhat agree | 49% | 40% | 26% |
Somewhat disagree | 30% | 32% | 41% |
Strongly disagree | 5% | 19% | 16% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
category | Leaning liberal | Somewhat liberal | Extremely liberal |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly agree | 40% | 35% | 74% |
Somewhat agree | 31% | 50% | 19% |
Somewhat disagree | 28% | 15% | 8% |
Strongly disagree | 1% | 1% | 0% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Tea Party identification is based on the following question, also asked in the survey: "Suppose the Tea Party movement organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district, or the Tea Party candidate from your district?" Those who responded "Republican candidate" are considered Republicans (non-Tea Party movement) and those who responded "Tea Party candidate" are considered Tea Party Republicans.
category | Democrat | Republican | Tea Party |
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Strongly agree | 35% | 22% | 18% |
Somewhat agree | 43% | 44% | 31% |
Somewhat disagree | 18% | 29% | 33% |
Strongly disagree | 4% | 5% | 18% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Race is calculated according to the RACE1 variable.
category | White | Black | Hispanic |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly agree | 23% | 21% | 29% |
Somewhat agree | 44% | 32% | 38% |
Somewhat disagree | 24% | 37% | 32% |
Strongly disagree | 9% | 10% | 1% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable.
category | Male | Female |
---|---|---|
Strongly agree | 27% | 23% |
Somewhat agree | 42% | 40% |
Somewhat disagree | 23% | 31% |
Strongly disagree | 9% | 7% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Location is based on the following question, "Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly agree | 33% | 18% | 31% |
Somewhat agree | 44% | 41% | 37% |
Somewhat disagree | 19% | 32% | 23% |
Strongly disagree | 5% | 8% | 8% |
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Respondents were told, "Please tell us whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: When faced with a difficult decision, politicians should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology." Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
category | No high school | High school graduate | Some college | 2-year | 4-year | Post-grad |
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Strongly agree | 46% | 21% | 24% | 8% | 31% | 31% |
Somewhat agree | 40% | 46% | 41% | 48% | 26% | 48% |
Somewhat disagree | 2% | 23% | 29% | 40% | 34% | 15% |
Strongly disagree | 12% | 9% | 6% | 4% | 8% | 6% |