Occupy Wall Street Survey Topline
Douglas E. Schoen, LLC
Results for the Occupy Wall Street survey are based on 198 face-to-face interviews conducted in Zuccotti Park on October 10th and 11th.
1. Gender:
44% Female
56% Male
2. Age
49% 18-29
23% 30-39
15% 40-49
9% 50-64
4% 65+
3. Party: With which political party do you identify? {Open Ended}
5% Anarchist
1% Constitutionalist
32% Democrat
4% Former/disillusioned Democrat
6% Independent
6% Libertarian
6% Socialist
3% Working Families Party
33% Do not identify with any political party
4% Not sure
4. Employment: Are you employed, underemployed, or unemployed?
53% Employed
18% Part-time employed/ underemployed
14% Students
15% Unemployed
5. (if underemployed/unemployed) Did you lose your job recently as a result of the economic downturn?
82% Yes
18% No
6. Did you vote in the 2008 Presidential election?
56% Yes
44% No
7. (if yes) Did you vote for President Obama?
74% Yes
26% No
8. Do you plan on voting in the upcoming 2012 Presidential Election?
73% Yes
2% Maybe
25% No
9. (if no/maybe) Would you say you are turned off by our political system?
100% Yes
0% No
10. Do you plan on voting to reelect President Obama in the upcoming 2012 Presidential Election?
48% Yes
25% No
27% Undecided
11. Have you ever participated in a political activity or is this your first time (such as attended a meeting, joined a political organization, written a letter or email to a legislator, attended a rally, volunteered, helped get out the vote, etc.)?
48% First time getting involved in a protest/rally/march etc.
52% Have history of past participation
12. Do you feel like you make enough money to live your life the way you want to?
68% No
32% Yes
13. In the next few years, do you think that your personal economic situation will get better or get worse, or will it stay the same?
40% Get better
15% Stay the same
45% Get worse
14. Have you had to downsize your lifestyle because of your family’s economic situation?
74% Yes
26% No
15. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is performing his job as President?
44% Approve
9% strongly approve
35% somewhat approve
51% Disapprove
24% somewhat disapprove
27% strongly disapprove
5%Not sure
16. What frustrates you the most about the political process in the United States? {Open Ended}
30% Influence of corporate/moneyed/special interests
3% Our democratic/capitalist system
3% Stagnant middle class wages
21% Partisanship
15% Joblessness
6% Income inequality
7% Corruption
2% Entrenched bureaucracy
2% Bush tax cuts
2% Obama abandoned left
2% Military spending
2% Federal Reserve
5% Everything
17. What would you like to see the Occupy Wall Street movement achieve? {Open Ended}
35% Influence the Democratic Party the way the Tea Party has influenced the GOP
4% Radical redistribution of wealth
5% Overhaul of tax system: replace income tax with flat tax
7% Direct Democracy
9% Engage & mobilize Progressives
9% Promote a national conversation
11% Break the two-party duopoly
4% Dissolution of our representative democracy/capitalist system
4% Single payer health care
4% Pull out of Afghanistan immediately
8% Not sure
18. Who would you say is most to blame for our failure to address our problems? {Open Ended}
21% Both parties
16% The GOP
15% The American people
8% Special Interests
7% Obama is solely responsible
7% Wall Street
7% President George W. Bush
5% Citizens United Supreme Court Ruling
4% The Federal Reserve
4% Lobbyists
2% International organizations
2% Mainstream media
2% The Tea Party
19. Would you support the use of civil disobedience to achieve your goals?
98% Yes
1% Maybe
1% No
20. What about violence?
69% No
31% Yes
21. Do you think that conditions in the United States today are similar to those in many countries in the Middle East on the eve of the Arab Spring?
66% Yes
16% No
18% Somewhat
22. Do you feel that the wealthiest Americans are paying their fair share of taxes, or should we increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans?
77% Need to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans
22% They are paying their fair share
1% Not sure
23. Do we need to raise taxes for everybody?
36% Yes
6% Maybe
58% No
24. Some people say that globalization has made the American worker more vulnerable and has caused jobs to be outsourced and entire industries to disappear, and we need protective trade legislation to protect American jobs and industries. Do you agree or disagree?
73% Agree
27% Disagree
25. Do you think providing government money to banks and other financial institutions was necessary to get the economy out of recession, or was it not necessary?
49% Necessary
51% Not necessary
26. Do you think that we need greater government regulation over the banking sector, the auto sector, and the U.S. economy, less government regulation, or the same amount of government control and regulation?
70% More regulation
24%Less regulation
6% Same level
27. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Government has a moral responsibility to guarantee healthcare, college education, and a secure retirement for all — no matter what the cost.
35% Disagree
65% Agree
