Iranian Opinion on the Nuclear Deal

We�ve heard what the talking heads in the United States think of the nuclear deal being brokered with Iran, but what do the Iranians think? A report by Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, the University of Tehran's Center for Public Opinion Research and IranPoll.com shows that a majority of Iranians support the deal.

The Lausanne Understanding is the preliminary deal reached on April 2nd, the full text of which can be found at the U.S States Department�s website. 57% of Iranians are in support of the deal, and only 15% are in opposition to it.

This is helped by the fact that 94% of Iranians believe that developing a nuclear program is either very important (83%) or somewhat important (11%) to the country as a whole. 40% of respondents replied that the nuclear program was the country�s �most important achievement� in the recent past, with the next most popular answer, military power, only receiveing 12% of the answers.

One interesting point is that 73% of Iranians believe that the Iranian nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, an opinion reinforced by the fact that 69% of Iranians believe that nuclear weapons are contrary to the principles of Islam. Support for Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaties (NPT), has also grown in the past years. Support for NPTs has grown from 68% in 2006 to 81% of Iranians in October.

Iranians also support a nuclear weapons free zone including �both Islamic countries and Israel� by a large margin, with 62% �very much� supporting and 18% �somewhat� supporting.

Optimism is growing in Iran with 55% of Iranians believing that within one year of a deal being reached, there will be a tangible improvement in the Iranian people�s standard of living. This optimism extends to the deal itself, with 49 % believing it is �somewhat likely� for a deal to be reached and 21% believing it is �very likely� that a deal will be reached.

Further Reading:

"Iran Nuclear Agreement Meets With Public Skepticism" by Pew

http://www.people-press.org/2015/07/21/iran-nuclear-agreement-meets-with-public-skepticism/

"Only 11% of Americans see Iran favorably" by Gallup

http://www.gallup.com/poll/181742/nuclear-talks-progress-iran-favorably.aspx?utm_source=iran&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=tiles

"Why don�t Americans like theIran nuclear deal?" by CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/28/opinions/miller/

Reestablishing Ties with Cuba

With U.S-Cuba relations improving to the point of reopening the Cuban embassy in Washington D.C., the Pew Research Center reports that public opinion has never been stronger for friendly relations between the two nations. 73% of Americans now support reestablishing diplomatic ties with Cuba, an increase of 10% since January 2015. A similar size majority favors ending the trade embargo, up two-thirds in the same time frame.

Conservative Republicans represent the group with the largest change in opinion on re-establishing diplomatic relations with a 19% increase in support from January to July 2015. In general, 56% of Republicans, 83% of Democrats, and 75% of Independents support reestablishment of diplomatic relations.

Another issue with a large change in opinion is the ending of the 55-year trade embargo. Compared to January, there has been a 6% total change in opinion (66 to 72). All three major groups are in favor of ending the embargo with 59% of Republicans, 72% of Independents, and 82% of Democrats supporting new trade policies. Once again, the largest change comes from conservative Republicans, with a 15% increase in approval over the dissolution of the embargo since January.

The report further reflects a change in opinion over whether Cuba will become more democratic over the next several years or not. 43% of Americans now think that Cuba will become more democratic, up from 32% in January 2015. Similar to re-establishing relationships and ending the embargo, Republicans are more skeptical with only 33% believing that Cuba will become more democratic 

Related Links A majority of Latin Americans support re-establishment of U.S-Cuba relations.
Gallup Poll results on issues relating to Cuba
Americans have the highest opinion of Cuba in nearly 20 years
10 Economic Facts About Cuba from the Brookings Institute

Support For The Death Penalty Lowest In 40 Years In The US

A new Pew Research Center survey indicates that while a majority of Americans continue to favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, the number who support the use of the death penalty is the lowest it has been in 40 years.  Support for the death penalty was highest in the 1980s and 1990s, peaking at 78 percent in 1996 before declining steadily to 56 percent in 2015.  The decline can be seen in all political groups, but has been steepest among Democrats, only 40 percent of whom now support the death penalty.  Women and minorities are significantly less likely to support the death penalty than men and Whites.

Overall, Americans tend to think that the death penalty is morally justified in cases of murder, but they express doubts about how the death penalty is applied and whether it deters serious crime.  They are also concerned about racial disparities in the application of the death penalty.

Perhaps as a reflection of this public opinion shift, death sentences are becoming rarer and death row populations are declining.

"Most of the 32 death-penalty states have fewer people on their death rows now than they did in the peak year of 2000. The big exception is California, where dozens of convicted criminals have been sentenced to death in recent years (25 in 2013) but no one has been executed since 2006, when court rulings forbade the state from using its three-drug lethal-injection protocol. [...] The other notable exception to the trend of smaller death rows: the federal government. In 2000, only 20 prisoners were facing federal death sentences. That figure has more than tripled since, to 62 as of the beginning of this year, according to the NAACP report."

Read more:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/22/americas-death-row-population-is-shrinking/#more-269108
http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/16/less-support-for-death-penalty-especially-among-democrats/
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5156

TeachingwithData.org resources:
The Death Penalty (http://www.teachingwithdata.org/resource/3114)

A Nuanced Picture Of Public Opinion About Climate Change In The U.S.

A research team at Yale University has created an online interactive tool called "Yale Climate Opinion Maps," which allows users to explore differences in public opinion about climate change in the United States.

The maps are based on national survey data gathered between 2008 and 2014 by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason Center for Climate Change Communication. Using new statistical techniques, the researchers are able to provide estimates of U.S. climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy preferences at the state and local (congressional districts, counties, and cities) levels.

The maps suggest that while Americans know that global warming is happening, there is significant variation between and within states in the level of concern about global warming: concern ranges from an estimated low of 38 percent in Pickett County, TN, to a high of 74 percent in Washington, D.C. In Texas, only 39 percent of King County residents are worried about the phenomenon, compared to 61 percent of Travis County residents.

Few Americans appear to believe that human activities are driving global warming, and fewer still are aware of the scientific consensus about climate change.  Nevertheless, many support funding research into renewable energy sources and regulating CO2 as a pollutant.

Read more:
http://environment.yale.edu/poe/v2014/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-06/what-americans-think-about-climate-change-in-seven-maps
http://news.yale.edu/2015/04/06/yale-study-maps-us-climate-opinion-unprecedented-geographic-detail

TeachingwithData.org resources:
Attitudes about Global Warming in the United States: A Data-Driven Learning Guide (http://www.teachingwithdata.org/resource/3430)
Global Annual Temperature Scenario: 2050 (http://www.teachingwithdata.org/resource/3013)
Global Sustainability Curriculum Finder (http://www.teachingwithdata.org/resource/3286)