79% See Political Correctness As Serious Problem in America
Hank Williams Jr. won’t be singing the opening song for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” anymore as a result of a comment he made about President Obama. Some consider him the latest prominent victim of political correctness.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 79% of American Adults think political correctness is a serious problem in America today, up five points from a year ago. Just 16% feel it’s not a problem for the country. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Sizable majorities across all demographic categories share the belief that political correctness is a serious problem these days.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of all adults believe America has become too politically correct. Only 18% think the country isn’t politically correct enough and 15% feel the level of political correctness in the country is about right.
There’s sharp partisan disagreement on this question, however. While 74% of Republicans and 66% of those not affiliated with either of the major political parties think the United States is now too politically correct, just 35% of Democrats agree.
It’s important to note that the questions did not describe political correctness in any way. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines political correctness as “conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated,” and it has come to be understood by many as prohibiting critical comments about politically sensitive topics and groups.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on October 29-30, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.
We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.
Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.
To learn more about our methodology, click here.