[Fewer than half of Americans (44%) now express a favorable
opinion of the court,]
[[link removed]]

FAVORABLE VIEWS OF SUPREME COURT FALL TO HISTORIC LOW  
[[link removed]]


 

Katy Lin and Carroll Doherty
July 21, 2023
Pew Research Center
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Fewer than half of Americans (44%) now express a favorable opinion
of the court, _

, dbking

 

Following a series of high-profile rulings addressing such issues as
affirmative action, LGBTQ rights and student loans, the share of
Americans with a favorable opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court has
declined to its lowest point in public opinion surveys dating to 1987.
 

Fewer than half of Americans (44%) now express a favorable opinion of
the court, while a narrow majority (54%) have an unfavorable view,
according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Opinions of the court have become somewhat less positive
[[link removed]]
since April, when about half of Americans had a favorable impression.

The court’s favorable rating has declined 26 percentage points since
2020. The current survey marks the first time in our polling dating to
1987 that the public’s views of the Supreme Court are significantly
more negative than positive.

How Democrats and Republicans see the Supreme Court

Just 24% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents view the
Supreme Court favorably, down 7 percentage points since April and the
lowest favorable rating for the court in either party in more than 30
years.

As recently as 2021 – before the court’s decision last year to
overturn the federal right to abortion, as well as other controversial
rulings – nearly two-thirds of Democrats had a favorable impression
of the Supreme Court.

By contrast, Republicans are much more likely to view the court
favorably, with 68% holding a positive opinion. Republicans’
opinions of the court have shown much less change in recent years than
Democrats’ views.

Perceptions of the Supreme Court’s ideology

Half of Americans now view the Supreme Court as conservative, while
four-in-ten see it as “middle of the road.” Only 7% describe the
court as liberal.

Public perceptions of the Supreme Court’s ideology have not changed
much in the past year. Since 2020, however, the share of Americans
saying the court is conservative has increased 20 points. That year, a
majority (56%) said the court was “middle of the road,” while 30%
viewed the court as conservative and 12% said it was liberal.

Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to view the Supreme
Court as conservative: 71% of Democrats say the court is conservative,
but just 32% of Republicans say the same.

Republicans are more than twice as likely as Democrats to say the
court is “middle of the road” (57% vs. 24%).

Views of the Supreme Court’s power

Roughly half of Americans (51%) say the Supreme Court has the right
amount of power, while four-in-ten view the court as having too much
power. Just 7% say the court has too little power. These opinions have
changed little since 2022, when 48% of Americans said the court had
the right amount of power and 45% of Americans said it had too much
power.

In the new survey, Democrats are three times as likely as Republicans
(60% vs. 20%) to say that the court has too much power. By contrast,
when asked the same question in 2020, similar shares of Democrats
(64%) and Republicans (66%) said the court had the right amount of
power.

Demographic differences in views of the Supreme Court

Here’s a closer look at how different groups of Americans see the
Supreme Court:

* By 57% to 40%, women view the court unfavorably, while men are
divided.
* About two-thirds of Black adults express an unfavorable opinion of
the court, compared with roughly half of Hispanic, Asian and White
adults. 
* There are sizable age differences in views of the Supreme Court.
Just 30% of adults under age 30 have a positive impression of the
court – a far lower share than among older groups. 
*
* Demographic differences within parties in views of the court
*
Democrats with lower levels of educational attainment view the Supreme
Court more positively than those with higher levels of education.
Around four-in-ten Democrats with no more than a high school diploma
(39%) view the court favorably, compared with just 14% of Democratic
college graduates.

The opposite is true among Republicans. About eight-in-ten Republican
adults with a postgraduate degree (79%) have a favorable opinion of
the court. That view is shared by a smaller share (62%) of Republicans
with no more than a high school diploma.

Older Republicans continue to view the court more favorably than
younger Republicans. About eight-in-ten Republicans (78%) ages 50 and
older see the court positively, while 57% of GOP adults under 50 say
the same.

*
__

_Note: Here are the questions used for the analysis
[[link removed]]
and its methodology
[[link removed]]._

*
Katy Lin [[link removed]]  _is an intern
focusing on U.S. politics and policy research at Pew Research Center._

*

Carroll Doherty [[link removed]] 
_is director of political research at Pew Research Center._

* Supreme Court
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]