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U.S. in the World: Talking Global Issues With Americans -- A Practical Guide

America is facing critical choices about who it is and wants to be in an increasingly interconnected world -- choices that will have a profound impact on Americans, on other peoples and countries, and on future generations. This guide pulls together facts and arguments and the most effective ways to put them across for advocates of pragmatic, principled, effective and collaborative U.S.


Summary of Surveys on Development Aid, Global Hunger, and Poverty: The Trade and Development Program of the German Marshall Fund Perspectives on Trade and Poverty Reduction (2005)

Report Date: December 6, 2005
Data Collected: September 16 to October 3, 2005
Survey Population: In each country, a random sample of approximately 1000 men and women, 18 years of age and older
Learn more about this survey.

Background
Survey of transatlantic public opinion on international trade, economic development, and poverty reduction; conducted in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It explores views on agricultural subsidies, development aid, and the impact of freer trade domestically and internationally.

Key Findings

  • Seven out of ten respondents (72%) believe that trade is more effective than aid as a means of helping poor countries.
  • Two out of three American (66%) and European (67%) respondents hold a favorable opinion of international trade. Majority support for trade exists despite evident controversy over globalization.
  • A three to one majority of respondents (76%) agree that freer trade makes the world more stable by putting people from different countries in contact with each other.
  • Despite broad agreement (73%) that freer trade helps to boost prosperity, clear majorities in France (74%), Italy (65%), Germany (59%), and the United States (57%) believe that freer international trade decreases total jobs in their country.
  • There is significantly more public support for providing subsidies to small farms (71%) than for subsidizing large farms (50%). But most respondents do not see phasing out U.S. and European farm subsidies as an issue of high priority.
  • Overwhelming majorities support providing development assistance (80%) and promoting trade (80%) with poor countries that are democratically run, but with the mention of non-democratic regimes, support for aid and trade drops dramatically to under 45%.
  • Despite efforts to make 2005 the year of action on Africa, more than half of respondents (56%) disagree with the proposition that African countries should receive more development assistance than other poor countries.

Key Advice

  • Fear of trade-related job losses remains a major driver of public support for protectionism. To feel more secure in a global economy, people want their government to prioritize strengthening domestic competitiveness and equipping citizens with the education and training to switch between jobs.
  • While compassion is an important driver of support for the fight against global poverty, media and political attention that focuses largely on states in crisis creates a hopeless image of sub-Saharan Africa that works against it.
  • Heightened attention to African democracies, entrepreneurs, and community initiatives would likely raise the level of public support for trade programs and increase development assistance for Africa.

Methodology
TNS Opinion & Social conducted the survey using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews in all countries except Poland, where face-to-face interviews were used. In all countries a random sample of approximately 1,000 men and women, 18 years of age and older, were interviewed between September 16, 2005 and October 3, 2005. The margin of error was +/- 2 points at the 90% confidence interval. For results based on the total European sample, the margin of error is plus or minus 1 percentage point.

Return to Index of Surveys.