The Attack on America and Civil Liberties Trade-Offs:

A Three-Wave National Panel Survey

Co-Investigators:

Darren W. Davis

and

Brian D. Silver

Department of Political Science
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1032
(Tel. 517-432-0028--Davis/ 517-355-2237--Silver)

Updated:  March 20, 2005

Background

With funding from the National Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the College of Social Science at MSU, the "Civil Liberties" project is a 3-wave nationwide RDD telephone survey.   Our central concern is the relationship between fear of terrorism, trust in the government, and the willingness to exchange civil liberties for greater personal security and safety in the aftermath of 9/11.

The surveys are conducted by the Office for Survey Research of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) at Michigan State University.

Wave 1 was conducted between November 15, 2001, and January 14, 2002.

Wave 2 was conducted between January 31 and May 28, 2003.

Wave 3 was conducted between July 20 and November 1, 2004.
 
Questionnaires

Methodological Reports

    Wave 1  (.PDF)
    "The Civil Liberties Survey, 2001: Methodological Report"
            Larry A. Hembroff, Office for Survey Research, IPPSR, MSU, February 2002.

    Wave 2  (.PDF)
    "The Civil Liberties Survey II, 2003: Phase 2 Methodological Report"
            Larry A. Hembroff, Office for Survey Research, IPPSR, MSU, January 2004.

    Wave 3  (.PDF)
    "The Civil Liberties Survey III, 2004:  Methodological Report"
            Larry A. Hembroff, Office for Survey Research, IPPSR, MSU, January 2005.


Sample Characteristics

    The surveys are stratified RDD surveys of the United States, with ovesamples of African American and Latino respondents.  The data are weighted at each stage so that the respondents are representative of the U.S. population as a whole.  Alternative weights are used when the analysis focuses on race and ethnic differences.

    Wave 1 is a stratified national cross-section RDD sample.  Wave 2 incorporates a panel design, in which respondents from Wave 1 were reinterviewed; in addition, it has a control group of new respondents who were first interviewed in Wave 2.   Wave 3 also incorporates a panel and a control group, modeled on the procedures used in Wave 2.

    A table describing the main characteristics of the Waves 1, 2, and 3 samples is available here.
   

News Clippings, News Releases, and Policy Briefs

David Glenn, "On Death and Voting," Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 8, 2004: available here.

Chuck McCutcheon, "Homeland Security Rhetoric Lacks Substance, Experts Complain," Newhouse News Service, Oct. 5, 2004:
 http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/mccutcheon100504.html.

Interview with Diantha Parker, Chicago Public Radio, "Foreign Policy a Factor in Illinois Senate Race," October 4, 2004.
http://www.chicagopublicradio.com/audio_library/news_ra1.asp.

Siobhan Gorman, "Battling to Be Protector-in-Chief," National Journal, Sept. 11, 2004: available here.

Richard Morin, "The Politics of Terrorism Warnings (Or, Who's Afraid of Orange Alerts?)," Washington Post, Sept. 5, 2004: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60684-2004Sep3.html or here.

Debra Pickett, "Terrorism Fears No Longer Helping Bush, Study Finds," Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 12, 2004:  http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-fear12.html or here.

MSNBC Countdown transcript, Aug. 13, 2004:
http://www.msu.edu/~bsilver/CountdownAug1304.doc

IPPSR Media Information page, with links to project resources (updated April 2004):
http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/AboutIPPSR/CivilLiberties.htm

News Release (4/21/04):  "MSU Survey:  Michigan minorities more concerned about terrorism":  http://newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/1977/content.htm

Gisgie Gendreau, "People remain willing to trade civil liberties for safety, security," MSU Today, September 15, 2003:  http://msutoday.msu.edu/research/index.php3?article=12Sep2003-5

News Release (9/09/03):  "MSU Study:  Many Americans Remain Willing to Trade Civil Liberties for Security":  http://newsroom.msu.edu/news/archives/2003/09/civil_liberties.html

News Release (4/23/02):   "MSU Study Shows Americans Unwilling to Trade Civil Liberties for Security":  http://newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/471/content.htm

IPPSR Policy Brief, "Americans Protect Civil Liberties" (April 2002):
www.ippsr.msu.edu/Publications/PBCivilLiberties.pdf

Publications and Papers

1.  "Civil Liberties vs. Personal Security: Public Opinion in the Context of the Terrorist Attacks on America," Political Psychologist 7, No. 2 (Summer, 2002): 8-11.  (www.sunysb.edu/polsci/newsletter/tpp72.pdf)

2.  "Civil Liberties vs. Security: Public Opinion in the Context of the Terrorist Attack on America," American Journal of Political Science (2004).  (www.msu.edu/~bsilver/AJPSCivLib.pdf)

3.  "Personal Security vs. Civil Liberties after 9/11: Some Sobering Evidence from Sober Second Thoughts," Presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, April 2003.  (www.msu.edu/~bsilver/soberthoughts.pdf)

4.  "Americans' Perceptions of the Causes of Terrorism: Why Do They Hate Us?," Presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, April 2004.  (www.msu.edu/~bsilver/RootsMarch25-Final.pdf)

5.  "Continuity and Change in Support for Civil Liberties after the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks:  Results of a Panel Study," Presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, August 2003, revised December 2003.  (www.msu.edu/~bsilver/ContinuityAPSA2003.pdf)

6.  "The Threat of Terrorism and Michigan Public Opinion," State of the State Survey Briefing Paper, April 2004.  (www.msu.edu/~bsilver/BP0453111.pdf)

7.  "One Nation, Indivisible? Dimensions of Race Reactions to the Terrorist Attacks on America," Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, April 2004.   (www.msu.edu/~bsilver/MWPSA-RacePaper1.pdf )

8.  "The Threat of Terrorism, Presidential Approval, and the 2004 Election," Prepared for Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 2004.  (www.msu.edu/~bsilver/APSA2004Election82.pdf)