National Issues Convention Results

Questions on Political Efficacy

Items that changed

Q1e "I have opinions about politics that are worth listening to."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Strongly agree:		41.0%	68.1%
	Agree somewhat:		43.4	25.8
	Disagree somewhat:	8.4	3.6
	Disagree strongly:	4.1	1.4
	Don't know:		3.2	1.1

Q1a "People like me don't have any say about what the government does."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Strongly agree:		17.9%	6.3%
	Agree somewhat:		26.3	24.5
	Disagree somewhat:	30.8	32.0
	Disagree strongly:	24.7	36.5
	Don't know:		0.2	0.7

Q1b "Public officials care a lot about what people like me think."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Strongly agree:		7.0%	10.6%
	Agree somewhat:		33.9	49.2
	Disagree somewhat:	37.0	30.0
	Disagree strongly:	19.9	8.8
	Don't know:		2.3	1.4

Q2 "Some people think that it's important to stand up for your own opinion even if most of those around you disagree. Others think that it's better to keep your views to yourself when most of those around you disagree. Which position comes closer to your view?"

					
			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Stand up for your own 
	opinion even if most 
	of those around 
	you disagree		84.9%	89.6%

	Keep your views
	to yourself when
	most of those
	around you disagree	10.1	4.5

	Neither			3.8	4.1

	Don't Know		1.1	1.8

Q1d "National political leaders are out of touch with the rest of the country."

			Before		After 
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Strongly agree:		27.1%	19.6%
	Agree somewhat:		46.3	47.6
	Disagree somewhat:	21.2	27.8
	Disagree strongly:	2.7	4.5
	Don't know:		2.7	0.5

Q1c "Sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that a person like me can't really understand what's going on."

			Before		After 
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Strongly agree:		18.0%	17.3
	Agree somewhat:		37.3	41.6
	Disagree somewhat:	23.1	22.5
	Disagree strongly:	19.8	18.4
	Don't know:		1.8	0.2

Questions on the Family

Items that changed

Q4 "Some people think that the biggest problem for the American family is economic pressure. Others think that it is the breakdown of traditional American values. Which is closer to your view?"

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Economic pressure	35.5%	50.7%

	Breakdown of 
	traditional values	57.6	47.7

	Don't know		6.9	1.6

Q6a "How useful, in your view, would each of the following items be for strengthening the family in this country: Changing the law to make a divorce harder to get."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Very useful		12.6%	17.2%
	Somewhat useful		23.5	39.5
	Not useful at all	59.3	40.9
	Don't know		4.7	2.3

Q6b "How useful, in your view, would each of the following items be for strengthening the family in this country: Increasing legal pressures on fathers for child support."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Very useful		69.9%	84.5%
	Somewhat useful		23.4	13.9
	Not useful at all	5.1	0.7
	Don't know		1.6	0.9

Q6d "How useful, in your view, would each of the following items be for strengthening the family in this country: More family planning services."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Very useful		44.8%	58.2%
	Somewhat useful		34.5	31.7
	Not useful at all	14.8	7.7
	Don't know		5.9	2.3

Q6e "How useful, in your view, would each of the following items be for strengthening the family in this country: Government help with childcare and preschool."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Very useful		45.3%	56.3%
	Somewhat useful		34.5	35.9
	Not useful at all	17.4	6.3
	Don't know		2.8	1.4

Q24. "Some say that the government in Washington should guarantee for low-income Americans a 'safety-net' for welfare and health care. Others say that the government in Washington should just give money to the states and let them decide how much help to give. Which is closer to your view?

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Government in 
	Washington 
	should guarantee 
	a "safety-net"		37.7%	31.3%

	Money should go 
	to the states
	to decide how 
	much to give		49.5	62.5

	Don't know		12.7	6.3

Questions on the Family

Items that changed

Q3 "Some people say that there has been a breakdown in the traditional American family. Others say that families are just finding new forms. Which is closer to your view?"

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Breakdown in the
	traditional family	67.2%	69.5%

	Family finding new
	forms			28.0	27.1

	Don't know		4.8	3.4

Q5 "Some people think that government has become too involved with the family through social welfare and family planning programs. Others think that government has not done enough for the family through child care, family planning and education. Which is closer to your view?"

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Government too involved
	with the family		41.3%	42.7%

	Government has not done
	enough for the family	45.7	49.7

	Don't know		13.0	7.7

Questions on Foreign Relations

Items that changed

Q12 "Do you agree or disagree with this statement: The United States should continue to engage in military cooperation with other nations to address trouble spots in the world."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Agree Strongly:		20.8%	37.7%
	Agree somewhat:		50.9	44.1
	Disagree somewhat:	17.4	12.6
	Disagree strongly:	7.8	3.9
	Don't know:		3.2	1.8

Q13 "Do you agree or disagree with this statement: This country would be better off if we just stayed at home and did not concern ourselves with problems in other parts of the world."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Agree Strongly:		 8.4%	3.9%
	Agree somewhat:		18.0	16.9
	Disagree somewhat:	37.8	30.1
	Disagree strongly:	33.7	47.8
	Don't know:		2.1	1.4

Q22g "If the government chose to reduce the federal budget deficit through reducing the growth of spending or making spending cuts for different programs which of the following programs should be affected? Foreign aid."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Do not reduce growth 
	 or cut spending:	9.3%	20.6%
	
	Reduce the growth
	of spending:		36.4	40.4
	
	Cut spending:		49.5	35.7
	
	Don't know:		4.7	3.3

Q19g "We are faced with many problems in this country, none of which can be solved easily or cheaply. For each of the problems below, circle a number in each row to show whether you think we are spending too much, too little, or about the right amount of money to solve these problems. Foreign aid."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Too much:	59.3%	47.7%
	Too little:	4.9	7.0
	About right:	26.0	40.7
	Don't know:	9.8	4.7

Q16 "If the United States does continue to give foreign aid, for what purpose should the aid be given?"

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Military support
	 only			6.5%	6.5%

	Economic development
	 only	    		43.6	28.0

	Both military support
	and economic
	development		39.9	59.7

	Don't know		10.0	5.8

Questions on Foreign Relations

Items that changed

Q11 "In the future, how willing should the United States be to send troops to solve problems in other countries?"

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Extremely willing:	2.3%	6.2%
	Very willing:		8.5	12.2
	Somewhat willing:	53.2	54.6
	Not very willing:	24.1	22.2
	Never willing:		6.4	1.8
	Don't know:		5.5	3.0

Q14a "Here is a list of possible long-range foreign policy goals which the U.S. might have. Which do you think should have top priority, some priority, or no priority at all? Preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction."

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Top priority:		69.3%	68.2%
	Some priority:		24.5	28.1
	No priority:		3.4	2.1
	Don't know:		2.7	1.6

Q15 "Now that the Cold War is over, which on of the following opportunities is most important for the United States to pursue?"

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	The chance to shift
	resources back home
	to help our own
	economy			72.6%	73.1%

	The chance to use our
	military strength and
	leadership to bring 
	order around the world	7.4	11.3

	The chance to promote
	democracy in other 
	countries		12.6	11.5

	Don't know		7.4	4.1

Q17 "With which of the following countries does the United States conduct the most international trade?"

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Canada			16.3%	16.1%

	Japan	    		54.9	59.3

	Germany			2.3	3.0

	Mexico			6.9	6.2

	Don't Know		19.5	15.4

Questions on the Economy

Items that changed

Q19 "We are faced with many problems in this country, none of which can be solved easily or cheaply. For each of the problems below, circle a number in each row to show whether you think we are spending too much, too little or about the right amount of money to solve these problems"


	19e. "Education and Training"

			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Too little:		71.9%	86.3%
	About right:		21.6	10.9
	Too much:		3.5	1.6
	Don't know:		3.0	1.2

Q27 "Today the average worker does not receive a fair day's pay for a fair day's work."


			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Strongly agree:		26.6%	40.4%
	Agree somewhat:		32.8	34.6
	Disagree somewhat:	29.6	18.9
	Disagree strongly:	6.7	4.2
	Don't know:		4.4	1.8

Q31B. "How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Low trade barriers mean that American jobs will be lost to other countries."



			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Strongly agree:		17.3%	20.7%
	Agree somewhat:		37.3	47.2
	Disagree somewhat:	24.4	18.7
	Disagree strongly:	8.8	4.1
	Don't know:		12.2	9.2

Questions on the Economy

Items that changed

Q25. "Some people think the government should let each person get ahead on their own. Others feel the government in Washington should see to it that every person has a job and a good standard of living. Which is closer to your view?"


			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Government should
	let each person
	get ahead on own	60.1%	49.9%

	Government should 
	see to job and
	good standard
	of living		30.9	43.4

	Don't know		9.0	6.7

Q30C. "Do you favor or oppose the following ideas for the United States tax system? Replace the current graduated income tax with a flat tax that would tax everyone's income at the same rate."


			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation


	Favor			43.5%	29.8%

	Oppose			43.0	49.7

	Don't know		13.5	20.5

Questions on the Economy

Items that changed

Q30B. "Do you favor or oppose the following ideas for the United States tax system? Give a tax reduction for savings."


			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation


	Favor			66.2%	82.7%

	Oppose			16.5	7.6

	Don't know		17.3	9.7

Questions on the Economy

Items that did NOT change

Q20. "How important to you is it that the government reduce the federal budget deficit?"


			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation
	Very important		58.1%	63.4%
	Somewhat important	30.0	30.4
	Somewhat unimportant	6.2	3.0
	Very unimportant	1.2	1.6
	Don't know		4.6	1.6

Q21. "If the government does choose to reduce the federal budget deficit, how would you recommend that it be done?"


			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Mostly through 
	tax increases		3.5%	2.8%

	Mostly through 
	reducing spending 
	or reducing the 
	growth of spending	62.1	61.9

	Through a combination 
	of raising taxes and
	either reducing 
	spending or the 
	growth of spending	29.3	29.8
	
	Don't know		5.1	5.5

Questions on the Economy

Items that did NOT change

Q29. Some people think those with high incomes should pay a larger percentage of their earnings in taxes than those who earn low incomes. Other people think that those with high incomes and those with low incomes should pay the same percentage of their earnings in taxes. Which comes closest to what you think.


			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Those with high
	incomes should pay 
	a much larger 
	percentage of their
	income in taxes 
	than those with 
	lower incomes		27.5%	21.8%

	Those with high 
	incomes should pay 
	a larger percentage
	of their income 
	in taxes than 
	those with 
	lower incomes		32.4	40.5

	Those with high 
	incomes should pay 
	the same percentage
	of their income in 
	taxes as those
	with lower incomes	35.6	31.9

	Don't know		4.4	5.8

Questions on the Economy

Items that did NOT change

Q26. "The economy can run only if businesses make good profits. That benefits everyone in the end."


			Before		After
			Deliberation	Deliberation

	Agree strongly		31.1%	36.9%

	Agree somewhat		49.1	43.8

	Disagree somewhat	11.3	15.2

	Disagree strongly	5.8	1.6

	Don't know		2.8	2.5