Public Agenda Special Edition: Terrorism

Introduction

Overview

Bioterrorism

Public Opinion

Sources and Resources

Public Opinion: Protest and Patriotism
While the public is generally supportive of the war in Iraq, surveys find the public also accepts the right to protest and does not consider dissent unpatriotic, at least up to a point. Even at the outbreak of the Iraq war, when support for the invasion was at its highest point, most Americans said people who oppose war should be permitted to rally. Six in 10 told the ABC/Washington Post poll in March 2003 that protests are a "sign of a healthy democracy." Only 16 percent said protests should not be permitted.

And most Americans gave the protesters credit for sincerity: a Gallup poll in January 2003 found 55 percent who believed demonstrations at that time were motivated by "strong moral opposition," as opposed to 36 percent who believed protesters were "the kind of people who tend to blame America first."

Yet few said they were persuaded by the demonstrations. Seven in 10 told the ABC/Post poll that protests didn't change their opinion and 20 percent said it made them more likely to support the war. Only 7 percent said it made them more likely to oppose the war. In surveys since, support for the war seems to swing based on events in the field. (For more information, see our analysis of surveys on the war in Iraq).

In essence, people do not automatically want to ban protests they disagree with. Even in October 2001, while still gripped by shock and outrage after the Sept. 11 attacks, Newsweek found 70 percent who rejected the idea of the government banning demonstrations against the war in Afghanistan -- even as 53 percent said the protests should stop "now that U.S. military forces are engaged in combat." When Newsweek asked "Do you think someone can be patriotic and NOT support large-scale military action against terrorists," 64 percent agreed.

That basic tolerance does not mean, however, that the public views all forms of protest equally. Some forms of protest, such as burning the flag, provoke overwhelming hostile reactions in surveys. Other protests may only be perceived as unhelpful or unseemly. In Public Agenda's study of attitudes about the Constitution, Knowing It By Heart, we found people admitted to a limited understanding of constitutional liberties. But we also found Americans display a meaningful ability to think carefully about scenarios and situations that bring an individual's rights and freedoms to the forefront. For example, people who hold pro-life and pro-choice views on abortion actually had similar views on what would be acceptable conduct at an abortion protest.

-- by Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson