PRRI

10/16/2026

“When we are talking about the American Dream, what we see is that concerns about democratic rights and freedoms matter,” says Diana Orcés, Ph.D., PRRI Director of Research.
Listen to the full conversation:

Podcast Episode · Attitude with Arnie Arnesen · October 9 · 58m

10/14/2026

Speaking with CNN, PRRI President and Founder Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., explains that while he believes white evangelicals are likely to vote Republican if they show up to the polls on Election Day, white mainline Protestant voters are more of a warning sign for Republicans.
“If I were a Republican strategist looking at the map, I would be worried about the other white Christians… they are not as tethered to the president,” Jones says.
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Conservative leaders are sounding the alarm that more needs to be done in the final weeks before the midterm elections to educate and mobilize white evangelicals, a critical voting bloc in the president’s coalition. Republicans fear if they stay home, that could hand victories to Democrats in key ...

10/09/2026

61% of Americans say the death penalty should be legal in all or in most cases; Republicans (79%) are notably more likely than independents (62%) and Democrats (50%) to say the death penalty should be legal.
The Army announced this week that the ex*****on of Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting at the military base in 2009, would take place at Fort Hood on December 3 and be live-streamed.

The Pentagon says the firing squad ex*****on of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the ex*****on would be “public.”

10/08/2026

Women are less likely than men to say that the American Dream still holds true today (43% vs. 53%).
For The 19th, Chabeli Carrazana writes that many young women feel politicians’ messaging on affordability fails to address their anxiety about their financial futures. Read more:

Affordability is the top issue for Gen Z women. But few candidates are appealing to them with a message strong enough to cut through the noise.

10/07/2026

Drawing parallels between the Christian response to N**i Germany and the current Christian response to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, Robert P. Jones explains we are in a "backsliding democracy that has been aided and abided by a white apostate Christianity.”
Listen to the full interview on WUNC:

Robert P. Jones, founder of Public Religion Research Institute, talks to Jeff Tiberii about his new book, Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation after the Christian Turn Against Democracy.

10/05/2026

“The finding that Gen Z men were more likely to say the government should subsidize childcare when one parent stays at home is notable and perhaps speaks to the growing distance we see between Gen Z men and women with respect to parenthood,” explains PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman, Ph.D.
The 2025 PRRI American Values Survey finds that Gen Z men are more likely to support policies that encourage more Americans to have children than Gen Z women (51% v. 28%). Read more:

New polling from The 19th and YouGov found that support for child care spending was particularly strong among Gen Z, reflecting how affordability shapes their future family planning.

10/05/2026

From today's Morning Buzz newsletter:

For The Guardian, David Smith interviews PRRI President and Founder Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., about his latest book, "Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy." According to Jones, tracking U.S. demographic changes, considering support for Christian nationalism, and hearing President Donald Trump use language about racial purity all informed his decision to start Backslide by looking at the rise of the N**i Party and the complicity of the German Christians. Calling the book “a wake-up call,” Jones argues that “backsliding is not irreversible” and that national recovery remains possible through honest confrontation with history and sincere repentance.

10/04/2026

As the Supreme Court agrees to decide the legality of ICE’s mandatory detention policy, PRRI survey data finds that less than three in ten Americans (28%) favor allowing ICE officers to arrest and relocate undocumented immigrants to detention centers in states far from their home without allowing them to challenge their detainment in court, compared with most Americans who oppose it (68%).

More from PRRI: https://prri.org/research/americans-views-on-immigration-enforcement-ice-and-civil-liberties-in-the-second-trump-administration/

10/03/2026

NPR reports that the family of Renee Good, the 37-year-old killed last January by a federal agent during the Trump administration's immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, has filed two civil lawsuits against the federal government. PRRI finds that a majority of Americans (57%) agree the surge of ICE officers in places like Minnesota is making communities less safe.

The fatal shooting of Renee Good by a federal immigration agent last January in Minneapolis set off a firestorm of protests around the U.S. Her family is speaking out for the first time.

10/03/2026

“Despite the alarming trajectory detailed in Backslide, Jones resists total pessimism. The central message of his book is that “backsliding is not irreversible” and that national recovery remains possible through honest confrontation with history and sincere repentance…
‘It’s a wake-up call to see the bright lines that are being crossed, to be clear-eyed about how dangerous that is.’”

Read more:

Robert P Jones argues that declining white Christian influence has fuelled an alliance with Trump, and warns it is reshaping US democracy