America's Other Special Relationship
When Japan holds its parliamentary elections this weekend, Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito are expected to lose strength. Although the elections will turn on domestic issues, a significant defeat could slow Abe's efforts to promote regional democratic and economic cooperation. Polls suggest that the U.S.-Japanese alliance is strong. Three-quarters of Americans in a new poll view Japan as a dependable ally, up 13 percentage points from 2001, and 67 percent in another question described the present level of cooperation between the two nations as excellent or good (up 17 points since 2001). As for Japanese views of the United States, in the Pew Research Center's most recent survey, 61 percent had a favorable view of the United States, and an even higher proportion (75 percent) had a favorable view of Americans. In the survey, more than 70 percent of the Japanese said they liked American ways of doing business, and separately, American music, movies and television. For more about Japanese attitudes, see the Datapoints section in our July/August issue.
Sources:
American opinions from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, June 2007.
Japanese opinions from Pew Research Center, April-May 2007.
Harry Potter Mania
The Pew Research Center reported last week that a whopping 44 percent of households with teenagers were planning to buy the final book in the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That compares to 25 percent of all households. Interestingly, however, only 8 percent of all households said they were following news about the new book and movie closely, and another 13 percent said they were following it fairly closely. A third of households with teens were paying close attention.
Source: Pew Research Center, July 2007.
Fear Factor
In a new CBSNews/New York Times poll, 57 percent said that it is very or somewhat likely that there will be another terrorist attack in the U.S. within the next few months. Thirty percent said this was not very likely and 10 percent not at all likely. Over the past three years, in eleven askings of this question, question, the combined total for “likely” and “very likely” has varied from a low of 52 percent in August 2005 to a high of 71 percent in July 2004.
Source: CBSNews/New York Times, July 2007.
Up in Smoke
Slightly less than a quarter of Americans now say they smoke, down from around 40 percent in Gallup's data from the 1940s and 1950s. Today, nearly six in ten adults say they are sympathetic to smokers "because they are addicted," and 37 percent say they are not. Forty-three percent said smoking had been a cause of serious health problems in their families. Yet despite a broad consensus on smoking's harmfulness and majority support for restrictions on public smoking, only small numbers say it should be illegal.
Source: The Gallup Organization, July 2007 and July 2003.
Unanchored Voters?
In a new poll, Harris Interactive asked self-described Republicans and Democrats whether they would consider voting for one of the presidential candidates of their respective party, and then, separately, one of the candidates of the other party. The results are shown below, and they suggest that many people—slightly over a third of respondents from either party—are willing to consider switching. Among independents, 67 percent said they would consider voting for one of the Democratic candidates, while 61 percent would consider one of the current Republicans.
Source: Harris Interactive, July 2007.
