Who'd've thought that Republicans would become such big Pink Floyd fans? [1]
According to a new Pew survey on National Institutions, 58% of Republicans [2] think college and universities are having a negative effect on the way things are going in the country. Democrats [2], on the other hand, survey at 72% believing they have a positive effect.
The Republican view is a sharp decline over the last two years; in 2015 they saw colleges and universities in a positive light by 58%. The new numbers seem to be driven mostly by conservative Republicans (65% negative, a 50% positive score for moderates and liberals), and both older and wealthier Republicans.
Nobody's thrilled about the national news media, with Dems at 46% negative (vs 44% positive), while the Republicans are at 85% negative (vs 10% positive). That's increased a bit in the last two years for the Republicans, esp. among younger, less educated, and more conservative Republicans. Democrats are actually getting more positive about the media since last year, esp. among older, more liberal, and more educated Dems. (It seems likely to me this mirrors the partisan divide between Trump's "Fake News" accusations and the MSM's perceived push-back against his administration.)
Dems think labor unions are positive (59%); Republicans think they are a negative (46%). That said, in both groups the negative numbers are going down, the positive ones increasing. Interestingly, Republican approval of unions is highest amongst the lowest-educated and least-wealthy GOPers; amongst Democrats, the numbers are largely reversed, with lower educated and lowest-income Dems having the lowest postive numbers.
On the other hand, Republicans like banks and financial institutions (46%), while Dems think they have a negative effect on country (54%). Repubican numbers have been steadily going up since 2010 (when the positive was at 21%); Dems had been going up, too, until 2015l after that they dropped.
When it comes to churches and religious organizations, Republicans net out at 74% positive vs 14% negative; Dems vote 50% positive, 36% negative. These numbers haven't changed much; not surprisingly, churchgoers and folk affiliated with major Christian denominations are the most positive; better educated, unaffiliated, and non-attending folk are the most negative.
Interestingly, if you look overall at the population, the numbers haven't significantly changed; it's just within the partisan labels that things have gotten more extreme.
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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U
[2] Or folk who "lean" that way.
Sharp Partisan Divisions in Views of National Institutions
Republicans and Democrats offer starkly different assessments of the impact of several of the nation’s leading institutions – including the news media, colleges and universities and churches and religious organizations.
