Poll Underscores Role of Religion and Foreign Policy in Students’ Political Identities

A national poll of college students by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics has shown that the role of religion in public life and U.S. foreign policy are important political concerns for today’s students. A majority of surveyed students reported that religion was important in their lives, but students were divided along party lines about what role religion should play in politics and government. Meanwhile, the international focus of the post-9/11 era has helped shape students’ political views, the poll found. Overall, students are skeptical of the Bush Administration’s approach to foreign affairs: most believe that the United Nations, rather than the United States, should take the lead in solving international problems, and most also believe that the U.S. should immediately begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. Student support for President Bush—like support for the president in the nation as a whole—now stands at record lows.

FINDINGS

Views of Foreign Policy

• Thirty-nine percent of students cite the war in Iraq as their “number-one concern,” compared to just 20 percent of the general population.
• Most students disagree with the “Bush doctrine”: only 35 percent agree with the theoretical idea of the United States working to spread freedom and democracy, and 72 percent believe that the U.S. should now begin to withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq.
• Thirty-two percent of students believe that the United States should stop the development of nuclear weapons in Iran, even if doing so requires unilateral military action, while 37 percent are unsure about such action and 29 percent oppose it.
• Seventy-two percent of students believe that the United Nations, not the United States, ought to take the lead in solving international conflicts and crises.

Views of Religion and Politics

• Seventy percent of college students say that religion plays an important role in their lives; 25 percent report that they have become more spiritual since entering college, while 7 percent report becoming less spiritual.
• More than half of all college Republicans (56 percent) want to hear politicians talk openly about their religion, compared to just 21 percent of college Democrats.
• Sixty-two percent of college Republicans say that religion is losing its influence on American life, and by a seven-to-one margin they believe this is a “bad thing”; 54 percent of college Democrats say that the influence of religion is increasing, and by more than a two-to-one margin they believe this is a “bad thing.”
• Republicans and Democrats alike tend to identify abortion, stem-cell research, gay marriage, and the response to Hurricane Katrina as issues of morality, but Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to view the environment, affirmative action, and the minimum wage as moral issues.

Redefining Political Attitudes and Activism (PDF), a report summarizing the poll’s findings, is available online from Harvard’s Institute of Politics.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Only one-third of students (33 percent) approve of the job President Bush is doing, a record low for his presidency.
• Just 30 percent of college students believe the country is headed in the right direction.
• Thirty-eight percent of student Republicans and 16 percent of student Democrats believe that religious values should play a more important role in government.