The rights and privileges associated with civil liberty are so
ingrained in the American psyche that only a truly traumatic event
can alter public opinion where they are concerned. Such an event
occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. In the wake of that day, many Americans
expressed willingness to sacrifice their civil liberties in the
name of preventing additional acts of terrorism. However, new
Gallup polling conducted for the anniversary of the Sept. 11
attacks* suggests that public commitment to civil liberties is
returning.
In January 2002, 47% of the public told Gallup that the
government should take all steps necessary to prevent terrorism in
the United States, even if it meant that basic civil liberties
would be violated. Forty-nine percent said that steps should be
taken to prevent terrorism, but stop short of violating civil
liberties. Earlier this summer, the percentage of adults willing to
have their civil liberties violated in order to prevent terrorism
had decreased seven points to 40%. Now, roughly a year after the
attacks, that percentage is down again to one in three Americans
(33%), while 62% think that civil liberties should not be violated
in the effort to prevent terrorism.
The oldest Americans, those aged 65 and older, are the most
willing to say that the government may violate civil liberties in
the name of terrorism prevention. Nearly half of this age group
(49%) would be willing to make this trade-off -- at least 15
percentage points higher than any other age group. Perhaps not
surprisingly, political conservatives (40%) are more likely than
moderates (27%) or liberals (32%) to feel that preventing terrorism
should be given a higher priority than civil liberty.
When asked about the state of individual rights and freedoms in
the United States since Sept. 11, 11% say they have gotten better,
30% say they have gotten worse, and 58% say they have stayed the
same. Among those who say they have gotten worse, a majority, 57%
say this was necessary to combat terrorism, while 39% say it was
not.
The Bush Administration
Currently, 15% of Americans say they believe the Bush
administration has gone too far in restricting civil liberties in
order to fight terrorism, while more than half (55%) say the
administration has been "about right" in this respect. Twenty-six
percent say the administration has not gone far enough. The percent
saying the administration has gone too far has increased very
slightly from 11% in June 2002.
Americans who describe themselves as nonwhite are more willing
than white Americans to say that the Bush administration has gone
too far in restricting people's civil liberties in order to fight
terrorism, by a margin of 23% to 13%. Again, there is a difference
in opinion by political ideology, with liberals (26%) far more
likely than moderates (14%) and conservatives (9%) to say that the
Bush administration has gone too far.
Key Points
Americans are generally less willing than they were nine months
ago to have their civil liberties violated in order to prevent acts
of terrorism. Along those same lines, a slightly larger percentage
of the public believes that the Bush administration has gone too
far in restricting civil liberties in order to fight terrorism.
This trend is indicative of the "normalization" of Americans'
priorities as the shock of the attacks subsides with time.
*Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,003 national
adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Sept. 2-4, 2002. For results
based on the total sample of national adults, one can say that with
95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is
±3%.
