Confidence in Homeland Security Declines

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Tabular Results
Survey Details

As the threat of a terrorist attack lurks in the background of this year’s presidential contest, the public’s confidence that the federal government is doing everything it can to prevent such an attack has declined. For the first time since Fairleigh Dickinson University began posing the question, less than half of voters (47%) say the federal government is doing everything it can to prevent terrorist activity in New Jersey. Just three months ago, a clear majority (57%) said the federal government was doing its best. A year ago, nearly two-thirds (64%) agreed. The poll has been taken quarterly since April of 2003, just after the United States removed Saddam Hussein from power. The most recent poll of 834 registered voters statewide was conducted from July 20 through July 26 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

“The final hearings of the 9-11 Commission put a number of vulnerabilities in the public spotlight,” said Peter J. Woolley, Executive Director of the poll and a professor of comparative politics. “People have also gradually lost confidence that military action against Iraq was the right thing to do,” added Woolley. A PublicMind poll released on July 28, 2004 showed that nearly half (48%) of New Jersey voters now think the war in Iraq was a mistake.

The decline in confidence shows across party lines and voting preferences. Both Republicans and Democrats, and both Bush and Kerry voters are less likely to conclude now than they were three months ago that the federal government is doing all it can. The same is true at the state level where, also, less than half of voters (44%) say the state government is doing all it can to prevent terrorist activity. This is down from just three months ago when more than half (52%) said they thought the state government was doing everything it could.

At the same time, the percentage of people “very worried” about a terrorist attack increased to 16% from 13% three months ago. Most of that increase is accounted for by a change in attitude among women: 21% of women report that they are very worried about a terror attack, compared to 14% three months ago.

Women are also more likely than men to have made emergency plans in the event of a terror attack. A more than a quarter of women (27%) report that they have made plans, whereas only 16% of men say they have made emergency plans. Likewise, more than a quarter (28%) of parents with children living at home report they have made plans while those without children at home or no children are less likely to have stocked up on food and water or mapped an escape route. Overall, only 22% report they have made any emergency plans.

Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind poll of 834 registered voters was conducted from July 20 through July 26 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

Poll Analysis

Contacts:

Bruce Larson 973.443.8727

Peter Woolley 973.670.3239

Radio actuality line: (201) 692-2846.

For more information, please call (201) 692-7032.