Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions?

• Introduction
• Patterns

Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions? (Demographic Patterns)

Do you think a political leader should or should not rely on his or her religious beliefs in making policy decisions?

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Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions? by Marital status (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	Married and living with your spouse	Separated	Divorced	Widowed	Never married	Missing	TOTAL
Yes, should	46.3% 272	57.1% 16	33.6% 45	29.2% 21	36.1% 65	2	41.9% 419
No, should not	48.4% 284	39.3% 11	59.7% 80	62.5% 45	60.0% 108	3	52.7% 528
Depends	4.3% 25	3.6% 1	6.0% 8	2.8% 2	2.8% 5	0	4.1% 41
DK/No opinion	1.0% 6	0.0% 0	0.7% 1	5.6% 4	1.1% 2	0	1.3% 13
Missing	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
TOTAL	100% 587	100% 28	100% 134	100% 72	100% 180	6	1001

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Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions? by Political party (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	A Democrat	A Republican	An Independent	Other	DK/No opinion	Missing	TOTAL
Yes, should	26.0% 86	62.7% 185	40.2% 133	36.4% 16	33.3% 1	0	41.9% 421
No, should not	66.2% 219	33.6% 99	55.6% 184	56.8% 25	66.7% 2	2	52.7% 529
Depends	5.1% 17	3.4% 10	3.9% 13	2.3% 1	0.0% 0	0	4.1% 41
DK/No opinion	2.7% 9	0.3% 1	0.3% 1	4.5% 2	0.0% 0	0	1.3% 13
Missing	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 331	100% 295	100% 331	100% 44	100% 3	2	1004

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Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions? by Age (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	18-29	30-39	40-49	50-64	65+	Missing	TOTAL
Yes, should	33.9% 43	49.7% 74	44.6% 104	44.1% 138	33.7% 58	4	42.0% 417
No, should not	61.4% 78	47.7% 71	51.1% 119	49.8% 156	59.3% 102	5	52.9% 526
Depends	3.1% 4	2.0% 3	3.4% 8	5.4% 17	4.1% 7	2	3.9% 39
DK/No opinion	1.6% 2	0.7% 1	0.9% 2	0.6% 2	2.9% 5	1	1.2% 12
Missing	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 127	100% 149	100% 233	100% 313	100% 172	12	994

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Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions? by Race (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	White	Black	Hispanic Net	Asian	Other	Missing	TOTAL
Yes, should	43.7% 355	36.8% 25	42.0% 21	15.4% 2	29.4% 15	3	42.1% 418
No, should not	51.2% 416	54.4% 37	52.0% 26	84.6% 11	62.7% 32	9	52.5% 522
Depends	4.1% 33	4.4% 3	2.0% 1	0.0% 0	7.8% 4	0	4.1% 41
DK/No opinion	1.0% 8	4.4% 3	4.0% 2	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0	1.3% 13
Missing	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 812	100% 68	100% 50	100% 13	100% 51	12	994

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Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions? by Religion (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	Protestant	Catholic	Chst NonPr	Othr NonCh	None/DK	Missing	TOTAL
Yes, should	49.9% 234	46.9% 98	48.1% 50	24.6% 15	12.3% 17	7	42.2% 414
No, should not	44.6% 209	48.3% 101	44.2% 46	70.5% 43	83.3% 115	17	52.4% 514
Depends	4.9% 23	2.9% 6	4.8% 5	3.3% 2	3.6% 5	0	4.2% 41
DK/No opinion	0.6% 3	1.9% 4	2.9% 3	1.6% 1	0.7% 1	1	1.2% 12
Missing	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 469	100% 209	100% 104	100% 61	100% 138	25	981

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Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions? by Education (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	Less HS	Grad HS/TS	Some Cllg	Grad Cllg	Post-Grad	Missing	TOTAL
Yes, should	39.2% 20	36.2% 102	42.3% 121	46.9% 120	44.6% 58	0	41.9% 421
No, should not	52.9% 27	57.1% 161	52.1% 149	49.2% 126	51.5% 67	1	52.7% 530
Depends	3.9% 2	4.3% 12	4.2% 12	3.9% 10	3.8% 5	0	4.1% 41
DK/No opinion	3.9% 2	2.5% 7	1.4% 4	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0	1.3% 13
Missing	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
TOTAL	100% 51	100% 282	100% 286	100% 256	100% 130	1	1005

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Should political leaders rely on religious beliefs to make decisions? by Gender (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Yes, should	47.7% 252	35.4% 169	41.8% 421
No, should not	47.2% 249	59.0% 282	52.8% 531
Depends	4.7% 25	3.3% 16	4.1% 41
DK/No opinion	0.4% 2	2.3% 11	1.3% 13
Missing	1	0	1
TOTAL	100% 528	100% 478	1006

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Notes

ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005: In this April 2005 ABC News/Washington Post poll, a random national sample of 1,007 Americans was asked to discuss their attitudes and opinions regarding the Social Security investments in the stock market, terrorism, the death penalty, gay marriage, abortion, stem-cell research, and political parties. In addition, the poll also contains questions on Tom Delay, court judge nominations, and how President Bush is handling Social Security, the economy, energy policy, and the situation in Iraq. Demographic variables include: gender, age, race, education, and income.