Has the United States found a path that suits it best?

In the past two years, the American people have experienced the COVID-19 epidemic, the economic downturn, and the difficulties brought about by the increasingly divided and polarized national politics. Recently, the Center for American Progress and GBAO Strategies conducted a new poll, saying that if American leaders choose to focus on the core aspects of national rejuvenation, they can find a unified way forward. These aspects include investing heavily in sources and industries that create high-paying jobs, and linking the domestic and foreign policies of the United States more closely, so as to better protect the interests of workers and the United States, upgrade national infrastructure, support American families and help them return to normal life. The survey first pays attention to the macroeconomic background that affects American public opinion, and then discusses in detail voters' attitudes towards domestic and foreign policy priorities, their beliefs about the global role of the United States and the appropriate role of the government, and their attitudes towards a series of specific views. The contents of the investigation report are summarized as follows:

one

Macroeconomic background In terms of macroeconomic background, the report draws the following conclusions:

Although most American voters believe that the national economy has deteriorated rather than improved in the past year, President Biden's work has been supported by most voters.

Most American voters feel that their economic situation is relatively stable, but they think that the economic situation of others is unstable.

Americans' views on economic difficulties are consistent with the experiences of many voters. More than half of the voters said that they faced some economic difficulties in the past year.

two

Domestic and foreign policy priorities

Polls ask respondents to choose the domestic priorities that they think the President and Congress should pay attention to in the next five years. 49% of American voters chose "controlling COVID-19 epidemic", while "creating jobs and raising wages" ranked second (38%). However, as shown in figure 1, there are great differences between the two parties on domestic priorities. For example, among Democrats, the top three priorities are to control the epidemic (63%), increase affordable medical care (44%), create employment opportunities and raise wages (465,438+0%). Non-partisan people also take these three issues as priority issues. However, among Republicans, restricting immigration and ensuring border security are the most important priorities (60%), followed by reducing government spending and deficits (40%), then creating jobs and raising wages (38%). Figure 1. Respondents' views on domestic priorities in the next five years.

(From top to bottom, the topics in the left column are: controlling COVID-19 epidemic, creating employment opportunities and raising wages, restricting immigration and ensuring border security, increasing access to affordable medical care, reducing government expenditures and deficits, reducing taxes, helping low-income families and the unemployed, reducing racial and gender discrimination in society, transforming to clean energy to cope with climate change, ensuring that more products and services are labeled as "Made in the USA", improving public schools, and reducing government control over enterprises. Percentages from left to right correspond to ordinary people, Democrats, independents, * * and party member)

It is worth noting that the study found that Americans have relatively consistent views on the foreign policy focus of "protecting the employment opportunities of American workers" (47%); Nearly 40% of Democrats, about half of independents and nearly 60% of Republicans have made this issue a priority. The differences between the two parties on other foreign policy priorities are obvious. For example, the vast majority of Republicans believe that immigration (65%) and protecting employment opportunities (57%) are foreign policy priorities, while the proportion of independents who express similar views is slightly lower. In contrast, 44% of Democrats make climate change a priority in their foreign policy, while only one in ten Republicans make it a priority. Figure 2. Respondents' views on foreign policy priorities in the next five years.

(From top to bottom, the themes in the left column are: protecting American workers' employment opportunities, reducing illegal immigrants, coping with global climate change, strengthening relations with allies, ending the Middle East war, preventing attacks by terrorist organizations such as Islamic State and Al Qaeda, coping with China's economic and military "threats", coping with the nuclear threats of North Korea and Iran, preventing Russian influence on the US government and politics, fighting global poverty, promoting human rights and promoting the development of international trade. Percentages from left to right correspond to ordinary people, Democrats, independents, * * and party member)

three

The global role of the United States and the appropriate role of the government

The survey provides respondents with several sets of views on the way the United States handles world affairs and the appropriate role of the government in the economy, so that they can choose to be closer to their own views. The results show that Americans hope that the United States will strive for national interests more actively in the world and support measures that will help the United States compete with China and other countries. For example, nearly two-thirds of voters said that they were more in favor of the statement: "What happened in other parts of the world has a great impact on the American economy, and we should take more measures to ensure that our domestic and foreign policies create more employment opportunities and protect our interests." Only about 30% of voters agree with another statement: "What happens in other parts of the world will not really affect the American economy. We should pay more attention to our own employment and growth, not other countries." According to the report, these results show that the policies and methods that link the domestic revival of the United States with its competitiveness in the world enjoy broad public support.

Regarding the proper role of the government in creating jobs and promoting investment, 58% of voters (including 80% Democrats and 52% independents) said that they agreed with the following statement: "The government should promote public and private investment to enter high-quality jobs, such as technology, infrastructure, medical care, higher education and domestic manufacturing." At the same time, slightly more than a third of voters and most Republicans are more in favor of the free market: "The government should stay out of the economy and let the private sector and the open market decide where to invest and allocate resources."

four

Attitude towards a particular point of view

The survey listed 20 opinions in four main areas. These four areas are: national economic development, social security system, new international participation aimed at protecting the core interests of the United States, and new models of domestic political cooperation. The researchers asked respondents to indicate their attitude towards each point of view with a score of 0 to 10, where 0 means very different point of view and 10 means very different point of view.

The first five points are as follows:

The United States needs to rectify all levels of government to ensure that politicians pay attention to the needs of American voters, not just the needs of companies, campaign donors and the richest minorities. (8.4 points)

Americans need to spend less time fighting each other on social media and political issues. (8.3 points)

If the United States succeeds in the future, it must ensure that everyone, regardless of race, nationality, gender or religious background, enjoys complete legal equality and has a fair chance of economic success. "(7.9 points)

Network security should receive more attention, and the United States needs stronger actions to prevent foreign hackers from attacking key infrastructure and key industries in the United States. (7.8 points)

China is the biggest economic competitor of the United States. In order to compete effectively, the United States needs to invest in domestic enterprises to protect American workers from being affected. (7.8 points) As the United States gradually emerges from the epidemic, voters want to know: "Where are we going?" "How do we get there?" "Can we work together again to achieve the same goal?" Although the opinions of voters are still highly divided on key issues such as immigration and climate change, the survey report believes that the above research shows that a feasible road to national rejuvenation exists and is supported by the overwhelming majority of American voters. This road first requires the US government to put the needs of citizens first and ensure everyone's full equal rights and economic opportunities. At the same time, the vast majority of voters hope that leaders can advance the interests of the United States and protect the United States from cyber attacks and attacks by competitors. In addition, the state's investment in infrastructure and measures to alleviate regional differences and promote family economic security are crucial.