I caught a press conference on CSpan last night about a study by Harvard University Institute on Politics on College Students and their religious and political views.
I found a link to the video of the press conference on CSpan.org, but it appears to be bad.
Maybe it will start working in the near future. You can however watch the full press conference from the Harvard University website.
Anyways, it was an interesting study.
Traditional party identification labels of “conservative” and “liberal” are antiquated, and don’t fully represent students.
They said that the majority of college students define themselves as independents rather than the traditional Republican or Democrat. Students also tend to buck traditional liberal or conservative labels, looking more at right vs. wrong.
Religion is important in the lives of college students, but Republicans and Democrats may never agree on the role of religion in politics today.
Seventy percent of the students felt religion was important to them.
Twenty-five percent of students said they became more spiritual during college. Over 60 percent of Republican students thought that religion and spirituality in America was declining and it was a bad thing.
While over 50 percent of Democrat students thought that religion and spirituality in America was increasing and it was a bad thing.
Morality playing a strong role in students’ political views.
On the issues of right and wrong, Republican students tend to be focused on three major issues, abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage. But the study found many are also concerned about the moral issues with the Katrina response.
Democrats also tend to add educaenvironmentroment and health care to their concerns.
All students are concerned about genocide worldwide.
(The survey) finds seven out of ten of America’s college students believe that religion is somewhat or very important in their lives, but they are sharply divided “along party lines” over how strong a role religion should play in politics and government today. Despite these differences, more than half of students agree they are concerned about the moral direction of the country. While a majority believes hot-button issues like abortion policy, gay marriage and stem cell research are issues of morality, many also agree that the Government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, education policy and Iraq war policy are also questions of morality.
Some other information the study found was:
- Both Democrats and Republicans agree on their concern over the country’s moral direction, but students are generally optimistic about our country’s future.
- College students continue to support a more multilateral U.S. foreign affairs stance and are conflicted over unilateral action to prevent nuclear weapons development, including in Iran.
- More than seven in ten students believe the United States should withdraw some or all U.S. troops from Iraq.
- Potential 2008 Clinton-McCain presidential matchup is a dead heat on campuses.
- President Bush’s approval rating still dropping, as students continue to feel the country is on the wrong track.
- A majority of students trust our government’s ability to correctly choose which phone calls and e-mails to monitor, but they are still generally unwilling to allow it.
I felt like the study showed that today’s students are more concerned about human life in general than their parents may be.
One part of the study showed that students supported the spread of democracy by large ncasualtiesil casualities were in play.
Then the support decreases dramatically.
Anyways, it was an interesting program.
Video of the press conference
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