(WFRV) – A national survey sponsored by Marquette Law School in Milwaukee found mixed reviews on current controversial topics surfacing across the nation like COVID-19 vaccinations, mask mandates, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Afghan refugee admittance into the states, and how President Joe Biden is handling his presidency thus far.
The online survey titled “2021 September Supreme Court Survey” was conducted from September 7 to September 16, and included 1,411 randomly chosen adults, 18 years of age and older that are currently living in the U.S.
The goal of this survey was to gauge awareness and reaction to public figures, and the branches of government. And while many of these areas already garner heavy controversy, it’s no surprise the survey found a strong division amongst the respondents.
One of the public figures included in the survey was President Joe Biden and how he handled the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, his response to the coronavirus pandemic, and his overall approval rate as president.
According to the survey, a majority of the respondents disapproved of President Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, ironically, the survey also found that these same respondents supported the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Q: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan?
| Approve | 36% |
| Disapprove | 63% |
Q: Do you support or oppose the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan?
| Support | 74% |
| Oppose | 26% |
Additionally, a majority of the interviewees’ stated this war was ‘not worth it’ and supported the admittance of as many Afghan refugees as possible into the United States.
Q: When it comes to Afghanistan, do you think the war was worth it or not worth it?
| Worth it | 25% |
| Not worth it | 74% |
Q: Do you support or oppose admitting as many refugees as possible from Afghanistan into the US, so long as they pass a background check?
| Support | 58% |
| Oppose | 42% |
While President Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was not a popular course of action, his response to the coronavirus pandemic seemed to be.
Q: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling the response to the coronavirus?
| Approve | 56% |
| Oppose | 43% |
In addition, the survey also concluded that many of the respondents have been fully vaccinated with several of respondents who haven’t been vaccinated stating that they will ‘definitely not get it [vaccinated]’.
Q: Have you personally received the coronavirus vaccine, or not? Did you receive a single-dose vaccine, the first of two doses, or have you gotten both doses of a two-dose vaccine?
| Yes – Single Dose Vaccine (J&J) | 6% |
| Yes-Received first of two doses (Pfizer/Moderna) | 13% |
| Yes-Gotten both doses (Pfizer/Moderna) | 57% |
| No-Have not received vaccine | 23% |
Q: Will you definitely get a coronavirus vaccine, probably get it, probably not get it, or definitely not get it?
| Definitely get it | 2% |
| Probably get it | 15% |
| Probably not get it | 24% |
| Definitely not get it | 58% |
After assessing President Biden’s response to both the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the respondents were then asked to evaluate his presidency thus far. And while the results were very close, President Biden and his presidency weren’t able to secure the approval of the majority.
Q: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president?
| Approve | 48% |
| Disapprove | 52% |
Yet, the Executive branch isn’t the only branch of the government facing some heat. According to the survey, the Legislative branch’s disapproval rate is more than double their approval rate, while the Judicial branch faces a smaller, but similar gap.
Q: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the US Congress is handling its job?
| Approve | 30% |
| Disapprove | 70% |
Q: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the US Supreme Court is handling its job?
| Approve | 49% |
| Disapprove | 50% |
Turning its focus to the Supreme Court, the survey asked the respondents in-depth questions regarding Supreme Court cases, rulings, and expansions of rights in areas like religion, minority voting, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender), gun laws, and abortion laws.
Q: [Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people] Over the past 15 years or so would you say the Supreme Court has generally expanded or reduced the rights protected for each of these groups or has it not changed much either way?
| Expanded rights | 77% |
| Reduced rights | 8% |
| Has not changed much either way | 15% |
Q: [Religious people and organizations] Over the past 15 years or so would you say the Supreme Court has generally expanded or reduced the rights protected for each of these groups or has it not changed much either way?
| Expanded rights | 33% |
| Reduced rights | 21% |
| Has not changed much either way | 45% |
Q: [Gun owners] Over the past 15 years or so would you say the Supreme Court has generally expanded or reduced the rights protected for each of these groups or has it not changed much either way?
| Expanded rights | 27% |
| Reduced rights | 27% |
| Has not changed much either way | 45% |
Q: [Voting rights of racial or ethnic minorities] Over the past 15 years or so would you say the Supreme Court has generally expanded or reduced the rights protected for each of these groups or has it not changed much either way?
| Expanded rights | 38% |
| Reduced rights | 23% |
| Has not changed much either way | 39% |
In many ways, this survey highlighted the division amongst American’s across all three branches of government, but with many of these areas already known sources of controversy – are we surprised?
For the full survey and results broken down by the respondent’s age, sex, political affiliation, race/ethnicity, religion, and economic status, visit Marquette University Law School Poll.
