{"id":49614,"date":"2013-03-25T10:02:25","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T15:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2013\/03\/25\/supreme-courts-favorable-rating-still-at-historic-low\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T12:59:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:59:27","slug":"supreme-courts-favorable-rating-still-at-historic-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/03\/25\/supreme-courts-favorable-rating-still-at-historic-low\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court\u2019s Favorable Rating Still at Historic Low"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 id=\"overview\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/03\/25\/supreme-courts-favorable-rating-still-at-historic-low\/3-25-13-1-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f3f2f0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f3f2f0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"309\" height=\"666\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/03\/3-25-13-1.png?resize=309,666 309w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/03\/3-25-13-1.png?w=309\" alt=\"3-25-13 #1\" class=\"wp-image-67509 not-transparent\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on two same-sex marriage cases, and with several other high-profile cases on its docket, the court\u2019s favorability rating remains close to an all-time low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted March 13-17 among 1,501 adults, finds that 52% view the court favorably, while 31% view it unfavorably. Those ratings have changed only modestly since last July, shortly after the court\u2019s ruling to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republicans\u2019 views of the court, which tumbled 18 points following the court\u2019s ruling on the health care law, have rebounded somewhat in the current survey. Nearly half of Republicans (47%) have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court, up from 38% last July, but still lower than the 56% who viewed the court positively prior to its decision on the health care law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By contrast, Democrats\u2019 impressions of the court have slipped since last July, from 64% to 56%. Independents\u2019 views of the court have changed little during this period. About half of independents (52%) continue to have a favorable impression of the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;little-agreement-on-supreme-courts-ideological-leanings&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" id=\"little-agreement-on-supreme-courts-ideological-leanings\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"scotus-ideology\"><\/a>Little Agreement on Supreme Court\u2019s Ideological Leanings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The public continues to have mixed perceptions of the Supreme Court\u2019s ideology. A plurality (40%) now say the court is middle of the road, while 24% say it is liberal and about the same share (22%) says it is conservative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/03\/25\/supreme-courts-favorable-rating-still-at-historic-low\/3-25-13-2-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"eeedee\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #eeedee;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"410\" height=\"267\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/03\/3-25-13-2.png?resize=410,267 410w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/03\/3-25-13-2.png?w=410\" alt=\"3-25-13 #2\" class=\"wp-image-67513 not-transparent\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats have very different impressions of the ideology of the Roberts Court. About as many conservative Republicans say the Supreme Court is liberal (45%) as middle of the road (39%). Very few conservative Republicans, just 9%, say the court is conservative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly half of liberal Democrats (48%) say the Supreme Court is conservative; 31% say it is middle of the road and just 15% view the court\u2019s ideology as liberal. Both overall public views of the court\u2019s ideology as well as the partisan and ideological differences in those views are little changed since 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 1.5em\"><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on two same-sex marriage cases, and with several other high-profile cases on its docket, the court\u2019s favorability rating remains close to an all-time low. A national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted March 13-17 among 1,501 adults, finds that 52% view the court favorably, while [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"Few Conservatives View the Roberts Court as Conservative ","sub_title":"Few Conservatives View the Roberts Court as Conservative 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