ANES FACE-to-FACE: The American National Election Studies 2018-2021

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

Since the 2016 election, Americans have found themselves in a period of remarkable uncertainty and change. Some worry about threats to the nation's democracy while others are concerned that the U.S. president is unfairly targeted by the media and "witch hunt" investigations. What do Americans make of all this and how do they want to go forward? The American National Election Studies (ANES) surveys are an essential tool for answering such questions. Understanding the preferences of its citizens is the hallmark of a healthy, functioning democracy, and since 1948 the ANES has been the gold standard for measuring the opinions of the public and a leading resource in understanding voting behavior in the United States. The upcoming presidential election in 2020 is shaping up to be a defining moment in American history. Trust in democratic institutions has been declining at an alarming rate among the American public. Challenges, as well as defenses, of those institutions are coming from many directions. New and existing questions on the ANES survey will allow researchers to understand the sources of growing American discontent, explain misunderstandings between elected officials the public, and identify opportunities for bridging the country?s political and social divisions in the future. Understanding the preferences of citizens is the hallmark of a healthy, functioning democracy, and the American National Election Studies (ANES) time series has been the gold standard for gauging and assessing the connection between public opinion and voting behavior in the U.S. We propose to conduct the 2020 face-to-face ANES surveys, the most comprehensive and careful study of how Americans evaluate their government, form opinions about major issues of the day, participate in politics, and choose which candidates to support, and thereby extend a time series that dates back to 1948. Specifically, we propose to collect data in 2020 on a national probability sample of respondents in two waves of in-person interviews (before and after the election). The content and design of these surveys will be informed by two major pilot surveys and a number of small-scale pilots. In an era where response rates for phone surveys have dipped below 10 percent and where most online surveys still face daunting issues with respect to representativeness, the ANES survey offers reliable measurement of social, economic, and political attitudes in the context of American elections. The negativity and polarization of our political environment make the need for non-partisan, scientifically-valid survey research more pressing than ever. This is what ANES offers, while also providing unparalleled time series data that puts the nature of our current politics into appropriate historical context. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.