Most Trusted Branch of Government (February 2020)

Most Trusted Branch of Government (February 2020)

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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?"
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categoryTotal
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch12%
The President, the executive branch27%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch30%
Don't know30%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" 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.
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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch24%6%2%
The President, the executive branch3%17%54%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch36%40%24%
Don't know38%38%20%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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CategoryLean DemocratNot very strong DemocratStrong Democrat
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch14%22%31%
The President, the executive branch5%3%1%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch41%39%31%
Don't know40%36%37%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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CategoryLean RepublicanNot very strong RepublicanStrong Republican
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch2%1%2%
The President, the executive branch47%45%61%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch34%25%19%
Don't know17%29%19%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" 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.
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CategoryLiberalsModeratesConservatives
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch24%9%5%
The President, the executive branch4%14%51%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch34%41%22%
Don't know38%36%22%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" 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.
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CategoryLean liberalSomewhat liberalExtremely liberal
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch20%24%28%
The President, the executive branch5%2%6%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch39%37%25%
Don't know36%37%41%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" 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.
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CategoryLean conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch14%4%3%
The President, the executive branch25%51%64%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch37%22%14%
Don't know24%23%19%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Race is calculated according to the race variable.
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CategoryWhiteBlackHispanic
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch9%26%13%
The President, the executive branch34%10%21%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch32%22%31%
Don't know26%42%35%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable.
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CategoryMaleFemale
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch11%13%
The President, the executive branch32%24%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch31%30%
Don't know26%34%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Community type is based on the following question, " Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
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CategoryUrbanSuburbanRural
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch18%11%7%
The President, the executive branch19%27%41%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch31%33%22%
Don't know32%29%30%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Age is calculated according to the AGEG variable.
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Category18-2930-4445-6465+
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch16%12%10%12%
The President, the executive branch14%19%31%44%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch34%32%28%30%
Don't know36%37%31%13%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
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CategoryNo HSHigh school graduateSome college2-year4-yearPost-grad
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch21%9%11%17%14%11%
The President, the executive branch32%29%29%26%26%23%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch3%32%26%30%35%33%
Don't know44%30%33%27%26%33%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Religiosity is calculated according to the IMPORT variable.
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CategoryExtremely importantSomewhat importantNot very importantNot at all important
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch10%12%13%17%
The President, the executive branch35%31%16%14%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch28%26%40%36%
Don't know27%31%31%33%
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    Respondents were asked, "Of the three branches of federal government, which one do you trust the most?" Fundamentalism is calculated according to the LITERAL variable.
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CategoryThe Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word.The Bible is the word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally, word for word.The Bible is a book written by men and is not the word of God.Don't know.
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch10%10%17%10%
The President, the executive branch41%32%9%23%
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch22%35%37%19%
Don't know28%23%37%48%

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