Richard Wike

What Do Americans Know About International Affairs? Older Americans, those with more education and men tend to score better on our 12-question quiz about international knowledge. Republicans and Democrats have roughly the same levels of international k...

We've done a little on this, and it would be great to do more. Here's a 2022 report on knowledge about international news (obviously many of these items are outdated now): www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/...

How People Around the World View AI Most adults across 25 countries are aware of AI, and people are generally more concerned than excited about its effects on daily life.

We've got a new report looking at views about AI around the world. Roughly 8-in-10 have heard at least a little about AI. On balance, people are more concerned than excited about its growing presence in daily life. Concerns are especially common in the U.S.

www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...

People Around the World Want Political Change, but Many Doubt It Can Happen Majorities in 20 of 25 countries surveyed say their political system needs major changes or complete reform, but many lack confidence this can happen effectively.

Our new poll finds that majorities in 20 of 25 nations say their political system needs major changes or complete reform, but many doubt change can happen. And elected officials get poor reviews for honesty and understanding the needs of ordinary people. pewrsr.ch/3Vipr1T

The authors write that religion generally declines between generations in three steps: People participate in worship services less often. The importance of religion declines in their personal lives. Belonging to religion becomes less common. They call this the Participation-Importance-Belonging (P-I-B) sequence. In this sequence, generations first shed aspects of religion that require more time and resources. People are slower to shed religious identity, which is not necessarily as burdensome. In the early stage of secular transition, generations differ primarily in their religious participation. In some countries that remain highly religious today, recent surveys show that each country’s share of adults under age 40 who frequently attend religious services has dropped below the share of older adults who do so. Many African countries are currently in this early stage. For example, in Senegal, 78% of older adults attend worship services weekly, but younger adults are 14 percentage points less likely to do so. Yet almost all adults in Senegal – both young and old – still identify as Muslims and consider religion very important in their lives.

In the medium stage of secular transition, generations differ in their religious participation, importance and belonging. In countries that are moderately religious, all three steps in the P-I-B sequence are visible in recent surveys. Adults under 40 attend services less frequently than their elders, are less likely to say religion is important in their lives and are less likely to identify with any religion. This is the case currently in the U.S., along with many other countries in the Americas and Asia.

In the late stage of secular transition, generations differ primarily in religious belonging. The authors contend that this is because the first two steps have been completed. The shares of older adults who attend services and who consider religion important in their lives have already dropped to low levels, similar to those of younger adults. In the least religious countries today, the main difference between age groups is that younger adults are less likely to identify with any religion. Many countries in Europe have reached this stage. For example, in Denmark, 79% of older adults remain religiously affiliated, but adults under 40 are 26 points less likely to say they belong to any religion. Attendance at religious services and self-assessments of the importance of religion are low among people of all ages.

A secular transition is happening in countries around the world. Detailed explanation🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Many Muslim-majority countries, Hindu-majority India in early stage. Countries with large Buddhist & Christian populations in later stages.
Blog: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

How Americans view the Trump administration’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war 59% of Americans say they are not confident that Trump can make wise decisions about the Russia-Ukraine war.

59% of Americans say they are not confident Trump can make wise decisions about the Russia-Ukraine war

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

U.S. Image Declines in Many Nations Amid Low Confidence in Trump More than half of adults in 19 of 24 countries surveyed lack confidence in Trump’s leadership on the world stage.

We’ve got a new @pewresearch.org survey of 24 countries exploring views of the US and Trump. Ratings for the US have declined since last year in most countries. Majorities generally lack confidence in Trump’s leadership of world affairs and his ability to handle specific issues.

pewrsr.ch/4kFqPH0

Our Global Attitudes team here at Pew Research Center is hiring a Research Assistant. Great opportunity to work with great colleagues on international research.

www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/42...

Majorities of Americans Support Several – But Not All – Types of Foreign Aid Most Americans say the U.S. should give humanitarian aid to other countries, and majorities endorse aid supporting economic development and democracy.

We've got a new @pewresearch.org report exploring US attitudes on international affairs, including questions on foreign aid - it finds substantial public support for several forms of aid.

www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...

Free Expression Seen as Important Globally, but Not Everyone Thinks Their Country Has Press, Speech and Internet Freedoms Across 35 countries, there are some disconnects between how people rate the importance of free expression and how free they feel they actually are.

New report, based on data from 35 countries, shows that people value free expression but not everyone thinks they have it

pewrsr.ch/42LKUDC

Americans Give Early Trump Foreign Policy Actions Mixed or Negative Reviews More disapprove than approve of leaving the WHO and ending USAID. About half see tariffs on China as bad for the U.S. and them personally, but views differ by party.

In a @pewresearch.org survey conducted in late March, 52% of Americans said increased tariffs on China will be bad for the US. 24% said good, 6% said no real effect, and 19% weren't sure. See more in our new report.

www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...

Americans Give Early Trump Foreign Policy Actions Mixed or Negative Reviews More disapprove than approve of leaving the WHO and ending USAID. About half see tariffs on China as bad for the U.S. and them personally, but views differ by party.

We've got a new @pewresearch.org report looking at US public opinion on key elements of Trump's foreign policy, including questions on USAID, the Russia-Ukraine war, Gaza, Greenland, tariffs on China, climate, and WHO.

www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...

Great news! @pewresearch.org is now active on Bluesky

📢 Out now! Democracy Report 2025:
25 Years of Autocratization - Democracy Trumped?

Read the Report: v-dem.net/publications...
Download the V-Dem Dataset v15: v-dem.net/data/the-v-d...

#DR25 #DemocracyReport2025 #VDemDatasetV15
#Polisky #PoliSciSky #PoliticalScienceData #PoliticalScience

It was great being on the new episode of the @revdem2020.bsky.social podcast to talk about my recent @jodemocracy.bsky.social article

📣 NEW: #FreedomInTheWorld 2025 is now LIVE!

freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

Violence and repression around elections, ongoing armed conflicts, and the spread of authoritarian practices contributed to the 19th consecutive year of global freedom in decline.

(1/🧵)

How Americans view Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg Just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they have an unfavorable view of Musk, and two-thirds of Americans have an unfavorable view of Zuckerberg.

New poll finds that 85% of Democrats have an unfavorable view of Musk while 73% of Republicans have a favorable view of him. But younger Republicans are not as positive about Musk as older Republicans are.

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Most Americans say it would be ‘too risky’ to give presidents, including Trump, more power Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (65%) say it would be “too risky” to give Trump more power to deal directly with many of the nation’s problems.

New poll: 65% of U.S. adults say it would be too risky to give Trump more power to deal the nation’s problems (it's just 39% among Republicans)

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Americans’ views of the war in Ukraine continue to differ by party Americans remain largely divided along partisan lines over U.S. aid to Ukraine, nearly three years after Russia’s military invasion.

We have some new data on views in the US about support for Ukraine, as well as a question on NATO. We continue to see big partisan gaps.

pewrsr.ch/42Rk7HR

When Democracy Isn't Democratic Enough with Pew Research's Richard Wike and Patrick Moynihan Podcast Episode · Cross Tabs · 01/29/2025 · 1h 12m

Talked to @richardwike.bsky.social and @moynihanpatrick.bsky.social about their research on how people feel about how democratic their democracies are - and how they could be more responsive to people. Our conversation here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

"Why the World in Down on Democracy" by Richard Wike.

Rich essay by @richardwike.bsky.social with much food for thought.

My take-away: most citizens are unhappy and unclear about what they want - which is why they rhetorically embrace any alternative to the current system (while not participating in these alternatives when having the chance).

"[Citizens] still value representative democracy, but they also desire a new era of representation with significant changes to the relationship between leaders and the citizens they represent,” writes @richardwike.bsky.social.

"Why the World Is Down on Democracy":
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...

Undergraduate Intern, Global, Pew Research Center Summer 2025 Organization Overview Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, d...

Pew Research Center is hiring several interns for the summer, including one for our Global Attitudes team. It’s a great opportunity and great place to spend the summer.

pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...

Still an amazing long term trend plot:

The remarkable thing about this polling is that Keir Starmer has a net approval rating of -33, but is still 10 points ahead of Kemi Badenoch as best PM (though 16 points behind 'none of these').

Political Sway of the Rich Seen as Main Driver of Inequality, Pew Survey Finds Most people think economic inequality is a big problem for their country, and see the excessive political sway of the rich as the leading cause, according to a report by the Pew Research Center.

Most people think economic inequality is a big problem for their country, and see the excessive political sway of the rich as the leading cause, according to a report by the Pew Research Center.

Economic Inequality Seen as Major Challenge Around the World Across 36 countries, a median of 54% say the gap between the rich and poor is a very big problem in their nation.

We’ve got a new report on views around the world about inequality. Strong concerns about it across the 36 nations we polled. And most say rich people’s political influence is a big reason why there is so much inequality.

pewrsr.ch/4g7QjK9

Thanks, Peter

I’m excited to share this new @jodemocracy.bsky.social article that looks at why so many people around the world are frustrated with the way democracy is working - particularly with how representation is working. And it explores ideas about what might improve things.

muse.jhu.edu/article/947886

Global Elections in 2024: What We Learned in a Year of Political Disruption Voters in more than 60 countries went to the polls in what turned out to be a difficult year for incumbents and traditional political parties.

This 2024 election summary by @richardwike.bsky.social et al, for @pewresearch.org provides an interesting global perspective as we head into the new year.

“angry at the political status quo, voters in many countries sent a message of frustration.”

www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/...

Citizens of modern democracies are unsatisfied with the way representation is working. Writes @richardwike.bsky.social Often, they feel they have no voice in politics. Many say leaders are out of touch, unresponsive and serve the interests of the wealthy and powerful. muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...