European views. (Opinion Pulse).(on social welfare and military spending)

Europeans favor a stronger role for government on social welfare issues than do Americans. In some areas such as education and crime, both populations want an active government. Questions about the proper level of defense spending produce stark differences between the continents.

 
Question: Now I'll read a list of things that have been mentioned as 
things the government has responsibility to do for citizens. For each, 
please tell me whether you think ...? Please tell me if ... 
 
                 Government should be responsible 
                       for making sure 
                                                    People like me 
                                                    should be 
                                Older people have   entirely 
                                enough money so     responsible for 
                                they can maintain   providing food, 
                                their standard of   clothes and 
                 No one lives   living in           housing for their 
                 in poverty     retirement          children under 18 
 
United States         60%               44%                82% 
United Kingdom        83                57                 55 
France                93                65                 66 
Germany               77                60                 50 
Italy                 89                64                 58 
Spain                 88                81                 59 
 
SOURCE: Princeton Survey Research Associates (U.S.) Market & Opinion 
Research International (U.K.), IFOP (France), EMNID (Germany), Pragma 
(Italy), Demoscopia (Spain) for Americans Discuss Social Security, 
1997. 
 
Note: Table made from bar graph. 
 
Question: Now I am going to read a list of government programs. 
For each, I'd like you to tell me whether you feel it should be ... 
 
                  Spending should be expanded on 
 
                                                   Defense 
                                                   spending 
                  Aid to      Programs to combat   should be 
                  education   crime and violence   expanded    Cut Back 
 
United States       75%              70%             44%         15% 
Great Britain       77               87              24          21 
France              68               82              28          22 
Germany             73               67              14          45 
The Netherlands     75               77               6          38 
Italy               78               79              12          52 
Poland              83               87              45          14 
 
SOURCE: Market & Opinion Research International in Europe, 
Harris Interactive in the United States for the German 
Marshall Fund and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, 
summer 2002. 
 
Note: Table made from bar graph. 

In Europe, opposition to biotechnology outweighs support. Still, the surveys reveal contradictory impulses. Seventy-one percent of Europeans say they don't want genetically modified food, but an even larger majority want to decide for themselves what they buy. Economic globalization isn't high on the European list in terms of extremely critical threats over the next ten years. ...