GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- The American psyche was jolted on Sept. 11, in a way seldom seen before. Terrorism, thought until then to be the province of those living in the Middle East or Northern Ireland, became a stark reality at home -- and changed the priorities of many Americans. In two Gallup polls conducted since the attacks, a plurality of Americans have deemed terrorism to be "the most important problem facing this country today." Within a matter of weeks, the importance of terrorism in the public's consciousness grew to parallel the importance given to the Korean War in 1951 and the Vietnam War in 1967. The economy -- the top problem before Sept. 11 -- significantly slipped into the background.
In the latest Gallup poll, conducted the weekend of Nov. 8-11, 37% of those surveyed named terrorism as the "most important problem facing the country," while another 13% responded with fear of war or "feelings of fear," and 9% mentioned national security. This represents only a slight change from a Gallup poll in mid-October (Oct. 11-14), when 46% cited terrorism as the "most important problem," 10% mentioned fear, and 8% mentioned national security.
The supersedure of terrorism as a response to the "most important problem" question is very similar to the situation during the Korean War (1951) and the Vietnam War (1967). During those years, between 50% and 60% of Americans said those wars were the most important problem facing the country. However, many fewer Americans mentioned the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and none of the other more limited U.S. military actions have emerged as dominant problems. The current situation, in other words, has quickly achieved a position in the consciousness of the American public not duplicated by any other military action since Vietnam.
Terrorism Ends the Economy's Reign
Before the attacks, economic issues clearly weighed on the minds of Americans. Between May and the weekend before the attacks (Sept. 7-10), a series of five Gallup polls showed an increasing focus on the economy as the major problem facing the United States. In a poll conducted May 10-14, and again in a poll conducted June 11-17, 17% percent of Americans cited the economy, unemployment or the high cost of living as the "most important problem." That rose to 24% in a July poll and peaked at 33% in the Sept. 7-10 poll. In the most recent November poll, 23% mention the economy, unemployment or the recession.
It should be noted that, despite the growing concerns about the economy, the percentage of Americans who now rate the economy as most important is far below levels recorded in the full-scale recession found in the early 1990s, when more than half of Americans regularly ranked the economy as the country's key problem.
In the months before the attack, education clearly held America's attention. There was little change on this key issue in the summer of 2001 -- five polls consistently found that about one in 10 Americans considered education to be the country's most important problem.
Survey Methods
These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,005 adults, 18 years and older, conducted Nov. 8-11, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? [Open-ended]
|
Nov |
Oct |
Sep |
Aug |
Jul |
Jun |
May |
||
|
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET) |
24 |
20 |
39 |
34 |
31 |
26 |
31 |
|
|
1 |
Economy in general |
16 |
13 |
22 |
15 |
14 |
10 |
10 |
|
2 |
Unemployment/ jobs |
6 |
4 |
10 |
9 |
6 |
4 |
6 |
|
3 |
High cost of living/ inflation |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
4 |
Recession |
1 |
-- |
2 |
1 |
-- |
-- |
* |
|
5 |
Taxes |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|
6 |
Wage issues |
* |
* |
* |
1 |
* |
1 |
* |
|
7 |
Trade relations/ deficit |
* |
* |
1 |
-- |
1 |
1 |
* |
|
8 |
Gap between rich and poor |
* |
* |
1 |
* |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Federal budget deficit/ federal debt |
-- |
* |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Fuel/ oil prices |
-- |
* |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
|
|
Other specific economic |
-- |
-- |
-- |
3 |
* |
-- |
2 |
|
|
NON-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET) |
79 |
85 |
65 |
62 |
71 |
75 |
68 |
|
|
1 |
Terrorism |
37 |
46 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
2 |
Fear of war/ feelings of fear in this country |
13 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
* |
|
3 |
National security |
9 |
8 |
* |
1 |
* |
1 |
* |
|
4 |
Ethics/ moral/ religious/ family decline; dishonesty; lack of integrity |
4 |
6 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
|
5 |
Education |
3 |
3 |
11 |
9 |
10 |
12 |
9 |
|
6 |
Immigration/ illegal aliens |
3 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
7 |
Dissatisfaction with government/ Congress/ politicians/ candidates; poor leadership; corruption |
3 |
1 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
|
8 |
Poverty/ hunger/ homelessness |
2 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
8 |
4 |
|
9 |
International issues/ problems |
2 |
3 |
3 |
* |
2 |
3 |
* |
|
10 |
Poor healthcare/ hospitals; high cost of healthcare |
2 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
6 |
4 |
|
11 |
Unifying the country |
2 |
1 |
* |
1 |
1 |
* |
1 |
|
12 |
Foreign aid/ focus overseas |
1 |
* |
* |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
13 |
The media |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
* |
* |
|
14 |
Crime/ violence |
1 |
1 |
7 |
6 |
9 |
9 |
7 |
|
15 |
Drugs |
1 |
* |
4 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
|
16 |
Environment/ pollution |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
|
17 |
Race relations/ racism |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
18 |
Judicial system/ courts/ laws |
1 |
* |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|
19 |
Lack of money |
1 |
-- |
* |
2 |
* |
1 |
2 |
|
20 |
Lack of energy sources; the energy crisis |
* |
* |
1 |
-- |
3 |
7 |
12 |
|
21 |
Children's behavior/ way they are raised |
* |
* |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
|
22 |
Medicare/ Social Security issues |
* |
1 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
|
23 |
Care for the elderly |
* |
* |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
* |
|
24 |
Guns/ gun control |
* |
* |
1 |
1 |
* |
1 |
1 |
|
25 |
Abortion |
* |
-- |
* |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
26 |
Lack of respect for each other |
* |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
26 |
Lack of military defense |
* |
* |
1 |
* |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
27 |
Overpopulation |
* |
* |
* |
1 |
1 |
1 |
* |
|
Losing personal freedoms because of war |
-- |
6 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
|
Welfare |
-- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
School shootings/ school violence |
-- |
* |
* |
* |
* |
1 |
* |
|
|
AIDS |
-- |
-- |
* |
* |
-- |
* |
-- |
|
|
Child abuse |
-- |
-- |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
|
|
Advancement of computers/technology |
-- |
-- |
* |
-- |
* |
-- |
-- |
|
|
Other non-economic |
3 |
6 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
|
No opinion |
4 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
|
|
Total |
116% |
108% |
125% |
122% |
132% |
139% |
127% |
|
|
Total adds to more than 100% due to multiple responses |
||||||||
* -- Less than 0.5%
