Approval rating

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

An approval rating is a polling term which reflects the percent of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Most often an approval rating is given to a political figure based on responses to a poll in which a sample of people are asked whether they approve or disapprove of that particular political figure. A typical question might ask:

"Which of the following best describes your opinion of the things President George W. Bush has done: strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, strongly disapprove, or no opinion/undecided."

Like most surveys that predict public opinion, the approval rating is subjective. Many unscientific approval rating systems exist that skew popular opinion. However, the approval rating is generally accepted as the general opinion of the people.

Contents

[edit] Presidential job approval in the United States

In the United States, presidential job approval ratings were introduced by George Gallup in the late 1930s (probably 1937) to gauge public support for the president during his presidency.

[edit] Current President (George W. Bush):

Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-George W Bush.png
President Bush's approval rating from February/3/2001 to September/15/2007. Gallup Poll[1].
Polling group's* last poll for the President George W. Bush:
Date(newest first) Polling Group Approval Disapproval Other
9/11-13/2007 Rasmussen 39% 60% 1%
9/7-8/2007 Gallup 33% 62% 5%
9/4-7/2007 ABCNews/Washington Post 33% 64% 3%
8/18-21/2007 American Research Group 28% 65% 7%
8/1-2/2007 Newsweek 29% 63% 8%
7/9-11/2007 Associated Press/Ipsos 33% 65% 2%
6/26-28/2007 CBSNews 27% 65% 8%
6/26-27/2007 FOXNews/Opinion Dynamics 31% 60% 9%
6/22-24/2007 CNN/Opinion Research 32% 66% 3%
6/8-11/2007 NBC/WSJ 29% 66% 5%
6/7-10/2007 LA Times/Bloomberg 34% 62% 4%
6/5-11/2007 Quinnipiac 28% 65% 7%
5/30-6/3/2007 Pew Research 29% 61% 10%
5/16-20/2007 Diageo/Hotline 32% 64% 4%
*References in the other table



Polling group's last poll for the President George W. Bush:
Polling Group (Alphabetically) Date Approval Disapproval Other
ABCNews/Washington Post[2] 9/4-7/2007 33% 64% 3%
American Research Group[3] 8/18-21/2007 28% 65% 7%
Associated Press/Ipsos[4] 7/9-11/2007 33% 65% 2%
Battleground[5] 1/8-11/2007 42% 54% 3%
CBSNews[6] 6/26-28/2007 27% 65% 8%
CNN/Opinion Research[7] 6/22-24/2007 32% 66% 3%
Democracy Corps[8] 3/20-25/2007 37% 58% 5%
Diageo/Hotline[9] 5/16-20/2007 32% 64% 4%
FOXNews/Opinion Dynamics[10] 6/26-27/2007 31% 60% 9%
Gallup[11] 9/7-8/2007 33% 62% 5%
LA Times/Bloomberg[12] 6/7-10/2007 34% 62% 4%
NBC/WSJ[13] 6/8-11/2007 29% 66% 5%
Newsweek[14] 8/1-2/2007 29% 63% 8%
NPR[15] 4/26-29/2007 37% 59% 5%
Pew Research[16] 5/30-6/3/2007 29% 61% 10%
Quinnipiac[17] 6/5-11/2007 28% 65% 7%
Rasmussen[18] 9/11-13/2007 39% 60% 1%
Time/SRBI[19] 4/5-9/2007 33% 59% 8%
WNBC/Marist[20] 4/26-5/1/2007 33% 61% 6%


Polling group's graphs of approval rating for the President George W. Bush:
ABCNews Poll-Approval Rating-George W Bush.png

ABCNews Poll[21]. April/22/2001 to June/1/2007.

Newsweek Poll-Approval Rating-George W Bush.png
Newsweek Poll[22][23].  February/9/2001 to July/12/2007.

Rasmussen Poll-Approval Rating-George W Bush.png
Rasmussen Poll[24]. May/1/2006 to July/11/2007.

George W. Bush public opinion polling.png

CBS News/New York Times. February 2001 to June 2007.

[edit] Historical comparison:

Historical approval highs and lows for each President since 1937:
President Highest Approval Lowest Approval
Bush (G.W.) 92 10/8-9/01,ABC Poll[25] 24 10/10-14/07, Reuters/Zogby Poll[26]
Clinton 73 1/28/98 CBS/NYTimes Poll

73 12/19-20/98, USA Today/CNN/ Gallup Poll

36 5/26-27/93, Yank/Time/CNN Poll
Bush (G.H.W.) 89 2/28/-3/3/91, Gallup Poll 29 7/31-8/2/92, Gallup Poll
Reagan 68 5/8-11/81, Gallup Poll

68 5/16-19/86, Gallup Poll

35 1/28-31/83, Gallup Poll
Carter 75 3/18-21/77, Gallup Poll 28 6/29-7/2/79, Gallup Poll
Ford 74 8/16-19/74, Gallup Poll 37 1/10-13/75, Gallup Poll

37 3/28-31/75, Gallup Poll

Nixon 67 11/12-17/69, Gallup Poll

67 1/26-29/73, Gallup Poll

24 7/12-15/1974, Gallup Poll

24 8/2-5/1974, Gallup Poll

Johnson 80 2/28-3/5/64, Gallup Poll 35 8/7-12/68, Gallup Poll
Kennedy 80 3/8-13/62, Gallup Poll 56 9/12-17/63, Gallup Poll
Eisenhower 79 12/14-19/56, Gallup Poll 48 3/27-4/1/58, Gallup Poll
Truman 87 6/1-5/45, Gallup Poll 22 2/9-14/52, Gallup Poll
Roosevelt 84 1/8-13/42, Gallup Poll 48 8/18-24/39, Gallup Poll


[edit] Highest approval rating:

George W. Bush holds the record with 92% (10/8-9/2001 -- after the September 11 attacks).
George H.W. Bush is second highest, with 89% (2/28/-3/3/1991 -- after the Gulf War).
Harry S. Truman is third highest, with 87% (6/1-5/1945 -- after the End of World War II in Europe).
Franklin D. Roosevelt is fourth highest, with 84% (1/8-13/1942 -- after the Attack on Pearl Harbor).

[edit] Lowest approval rating:

Harry S. Truman holds the record with 22% (2/9-14/1952 -- during the Korean War).
George W. Bush is second-equal lowest, with 24% (10/10-14/2007 -- during the Iraq War).
Richard Nixon is second-equal lowest, with 24% (7/12-15/1974, 8/2-5/1974 -- during the Watergate scandal).
Jimmy Carter is fourth lowest, with 28% (6/29-7/2/79 -- during the Iran hostage crisis).

[edit] Approval rating never below a level during the president term in office:

John F. Kennedy holds the record never below 56% (9/12-17/1963, 14% undecided).
Dwight D. Eisenhower is second-equal highest with never below 48% (3/27-4/1/1958, 16% undecided).
Franklin D. Roosevelt is second-equal highest with never below 48% (8/18-24/1939, 8% undecided).
Gerald Ford is fourth highest with never below 37% (3/28-31/1975, 20% undecided).

[edit] Biggest approval rating difference during the president term in office:

George W. Bush holds the record with 68 percentage points.
Harry S. Truman is second highest with 65 percentage points.
George H.W. Bush is third highest with 60 percentage points.
Jimmy Carter is fourth highest with 47 percentage points.

[edit] Highest disapproval rating:

George W. Bush holds the record with 71% (7/18-21/2007, 4% undecided, ARG[27]).
Harry S. Truman is second highest, with 67% (1/6-11/1952, 9% undecided, Gallup Poll).
Richard Nixon is third highest, with 66% (1/4-7/1974, 10% undecided, Gallup Poll).
George H.W. Bush is fourth highest, with 60% (7/31-8/2/92, 11% undecided, Gallup Poll).


Gallup Poll graphs of approval ratings for former Presidents of the United States:
Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-George W Bush.png

President George W. Bush.

Galup Poll-Approval Rating-Bill Clinton.png

President Bill Clinton.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-George H W Bush.png

President George H. W. Bush.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Ronald Reagan.png

President Ronald Reagan.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Jimmy Carter.png

President Jimmy Carter.

Galup Poll-Approval Rating-Gerald Ford.png

President Gerald Ford.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Richard Nixon.png

President Richard Nixon.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Lyndon B Johnson.png

President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-John F Kennedy.png

President John F. Kennedy.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Dwight D Eisenhower.png

President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Harry S Truman.png

President Harry S. Truman.

Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Franklin D Roosevelt.png

President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

[edit] Related concepts

There are several polling concepts related to an approval rating. A disapproval rating measures the number of people who disapprove of a politician, and is essentially the opposite of an approval rating. A net approval rating is the difference between an individual's approval and disapproval numbers. This number is especially useful with individuals who lack name recognition. A candidate which registers 50% undecided, and has a 30% approval versus a 20% disapproval could be judged to have a favorable net approval rating, even though 30% approval looks bad on its own.

There are also favorability rating polls done during a president's tenure that gauge whether people have a favorable impression of the president or not.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Gallup poll
  2. ^ ABCNews
  3. ^ American Research Group
  4. ^ Ipsos
  5. ^ Tarrance
  6. ^ CBSNews
  7. ^ CNN
  8. ^ Democracy Corps
  9. ^ Diageo/Hotline
  10. ^ FOXNews
  11. ^ The Gallup poll
  12. ^ LA Times
  13. ^ MSNBC
  14. ^ Newsweek
  15. ^ NPR
  16. ^ Pew Research
  17. ^ Quinnipiac
  18. ^ Rasmussen Report
  19. ^ SRBI
  20. ^ RealClearPolitics
  21. ^ ABCNews
  22. ^ Newsweek
  23. ^ PollingReport
  24. ^ Rasmussen Report
  25. ^ ABCNews
  26. ^ [1]
  27. ^ American Research Group

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Approval_rating"
Views
Personal tools

Toolbox