Gallup - A little over a third of Americans, 36%, say they have "ever felt the urge to organize or participate in a public demonstration about something." But the rate is much higher among Democrats and self-described liberals, college graduates, and women than their counterparts.
The demographic differences seen on this question are interrelated, but the biggest differences in reported desire to protest -- approaching 40 percentage points -- are by education and political ideology. Sixty percent of self-described liberals versus 21% of conservatives say they have had the urge to demonstrate something, reflecting underlying approaches to society built into those two ideologies.
Gallup last asked this question in October 1965, in the midst of the civil rights movement but just as protests opposing the escalating Vietnam War were beginning to become more common. At that time, 10% of Americans reported they had had the urge to protest.
Unlike today, in 1965, there was little difference between U.S. partisan groups in response to this question, with 9% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans saying they ever had the urge to demonstrate. At that time, Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, was in office, potentially contributing to lower levels of desire to protest among his party's supporters. The current 51% of Democrats wanting to protest, 30 points higher than the 21% of Republicans who say the same, is no doubt in part due to a Republican in the White House, Donald Trump.
No comments:
Post a Comment