It's been well-established that Americans' views of France have taken a nose dive, almost certainly as a result of France's opposition to U.S. determination to go to war against Iraq.
In May 2000, 50% of Americans considered France an ally, and another 40% said that France was friendly to the United States. Virtually no one considered France to be unfriendly or an enemy of the United States.
But now, some three years later, only 18% of Americans say France is an ally and 40% say the country is friendly. That leaves 40% of Americans who have negative views of France -- 31% who say that France is unfriendly, and 9% who say that France is an enemy.
A detailed analysis of the nature of these changes underscores the substantially partisan nature of the shift in attitudes. Republicans -- apparently most disturbed by French President Jacques Chirac's lack of cooperation with President George W. Bush's efforts to develop an international coalition against Iraq -- have shifted their opinions of France most dramatically, while the change in attitudes toward France by independents and Democrats has been much more subdued.
The April 22-23 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll* asked Americans to classify each of a list of eight countries as: 1) allies to the United States, 2) friendly to the United States, 3) unfriendly, or 4) an enemy of the United States.
As noted, the results for all Americans reflect a much less positive attitude toward France now than was the case three years ago:
For each of the following countries, please say whether you consider it an ally of the United States, friendly, but not an ally, unfriendly, or an enemy of the United States. How about
France
|
|
Friendly, |
|
|
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2003 Apr 22-23 |
18 |
40 |
31 |
9 |
2 |
|
2003 Mar 14-15 |
20 |
36 |
32 |
8 |
4 |
|
2000 May 18-21 |
50 |
40 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
Republicans have driven the change in ratings. There was essentially no difference in evaluation of France by party in May 2000. Now, three years later, the differences are stark:
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
||||||
|
Ally or Friendly |
Unfriendly or Enemy |
|||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
|
|
France |
||||||
|
April 2003 |
46% |
61 |
69 |
52 |
36 |
29 |
|
May 2000 |
91% |
91 |
88 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
|
Change |
-45 |
-30 |
-19 |
+46 |
+33 |
+22 |
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
|||||||||||||
|
Ally |
Friendly |
Unfriendly |
Enemy |
||||||||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
France |
|||||||||||||
|
April 2003 |
14 |
20 |
22 |
32 |
41 |
47 |
39 |
28 |
25 |
13 |
8 |
4 |
|
|
May 2000 |
51 |
48 |
50 |
40 |
43 |
38 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
The net change in positive ratings of France among Republicans from 2000 to the present is -45 percentage points (from the 91% of Republicans who viewed France as an ally or friendly in 2000 to 46% today). The net change among independents is a more modest -30 points, and among Democrats, only -19 points.
Similarly, negative views of France among Republicans soared by 46 points between 2000 and today, among independents by 33 points, and among Democrats, only by 22 points.
As a result, the data show that Republicans are now much more likely than Democrats to view France as an unfriendly country or an enemy of the United States. A full 52% of Republicans say France is either unfriendly or an enemy of the United States, compared with only a little more than a third of independents and roughly 3 in 10 Democrats who feel this way.
The shift in these attitudes within partisan groups is not totally surprising. Some observers viewed Chirac's stance on Iraq as a direct affront to Bush, and it is perhaps natural that Republicans would react most strongly to perceived attacks or slights to a president of their party. Still, these findings document the degree to which one's basic political orientation can have a broad impact on how one views the world.
Other Countries
Despite the differential partisan views of France, the same type of partisan effect is not evident in views of two other countries that have been in the news recently -- Syria and North Korea -- perhaps because the Bush administration has not yet become closely identified with specific efforts to confront either of them.
North Korea
Republicans are more inclined than Democrats to view North Korea as an enemy of the United States, and less likely to view North Korea as friendly to the United States.
But this isn't new. An analysis of over time trends shows that Republicans were also more negative toward North Korea in 2000. The current differences in the image of North Korea in the minds of the two partisan groups don't represent a huge shift from 2000. If anything, Democrats' views of North Korea as unfriendly or as a U.S. enemy have changed more substantially over time than have Republicans' views.
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
||||||
|
Ally or Friendly |
Unfriendly or Enemy |
|||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
|
|
North Korea |
||||||
|
April 2003 |
8% |
11 |
21 |
85 |
83 |
75 |
|
May 2000 |
24% |
32 |
38 |
69 |
59 |
50 |
|
Change |
-16 |
-21 |
-17 |
+16 |
+24 |
+25 |
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
|||||||||||||
|
Ally |
Friendly |
Unfriendly |
Enemy |
||||||||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
North Korea |
|||||||||||||
|
April 2003 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
9 |
17 |
31 |
42 |
34 |
54 |
41 |
41 |
|
|
May 2000 |
2 |
5 |
9 |
22 |
27 |
29 |
37 |
36 |
33 |
32 |
23 |
17 |
|
Syria
There is a six-percentage-point difference between Republicans and Democrats in terms of perceptions of Syria as unfriendly or as an enemy of the United States. At the same time, essentially the same percentage of Republicans, independents, and Democrats say Syria is an ally or is friendly to the United States.
As was the case for North Korea, the change in perceptions over time has been virtually the same among Republicans and Democrats. Independents have become more negative over the last three years.
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
||||||
|
Ally or Friendly |
Unfriendly or Enemy |
|||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
|
|
Syria |
||||||
|
April 2003 |
22% |
21 |
26 |
71 |
68 |
65 |
|
May 2000 |
30% |
36 |
32 |
50 |
38 |
44 |
|
Change |
-8 |
-15 |
-6 |
+21 |
+30 |
+21 |
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
|||||||||||||
|
Ally |
Friendly |
Unfriendly |
Enemy |
||||||||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
Syria |
|||||||||||||
|
April 2003 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
17 |
17 |
23 |
34 |
38 |
36 |
37 |
30 |
28 |
|
|
May 2000 |
2 |
6 |
7 |
28 |
30 |
25 |
34 |
31 |
34 |
16 |
7 |
10 |
|
Great Britain and Canada
Americans' views of two primarily English-speaking countries -- Great Britain and Canada -- have changed over the last three years, undoubtedly reflecting the diametrically opposed stances of the two nations' leaders, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, toward the war with Iraq.
Views of Great Britain as a U.S. ally have become more prevalent since May 2000, while the perceptions of Canada as an ally have dropped.
Both nations are still perceived in a positive light, but 79% of the public now sees Britain as a U.S. ally, compared with 65% in 2000. Canada is now seen as an ally by 56%, compared with a higher 65% in 2000.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the increase in views of Great Britain as an ally among Republicans has been larger than the increase among Democrats. At the same time, the percentage of Republicans who view Canada as an ally has dropped more significantly than has been the case among Democrats. Compared to the changes within partisan group of attitudes toward France, however, these shifts are relatively modest.
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
||||||
|
Great Britain |
Ally or Friendly |
Unfriendly or Enemy |
||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
April 2003 |
97 |
95 |
95 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
|
May 2000 |
91 |
94 |
91 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
||||||
|
Canada |
Ally or Friendly |
Unfriendly or Enemy |
||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
April 2003 |
90 |
94 |
91 |
9 |
5 |
6 |
|
May 2000 |
95 |
95 |
98 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
Country Ratings as Allies, Friendly,
Unfriendly, or Enemy |
||||||||||||
|
Ally |
Friendly |
Unfriendly |
Enemy |
|||||||||
|
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
Rep |
Ind |
Dem |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
Great Britain |
||||||||||||
|
April 2003 |
84 |
79 |
74 |
13 |
16 |
21 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
* |
2 |
|
May 2000 |
66 |
65 |
64 |
25 |
29 |
27 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
Canada |
||||||||||||
|
April 2003 |
55 |
59 |
55 |
35 |
35 |
36 |
8 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
May 2000 |
68 |
67 |
60 |
27 |
28 |
38 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
*The results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,001 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 22-23, 2002. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95%confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±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.
