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Pliny's Point on May 11, 2017
May 11, 2017: An average of 18 percent approve of how the 115th Congress is handling its job, up two points from yesterday's average as a result of new Gallup and Economist/YouGov polls released this week. Gallup's 20 percent approval rating is the highest in Ballotpedia's average, while the Economist/YouGov poll rose from 11 percent approval (4/29 - 5/2) to 13 percent (5/6 - 5/9).[1] Though only a slight increase, this may reflect approval over the passage of the American Health Care Act of 2017 through the House on May 4.
| Source | Date range | Sample size | Job approval rating | Margin of error (+/-) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economist/YouGov[2] | 5/6 - 5/9 | 1,287 registered voters | 13% | 3.1% |
| Gallup[3] | 5/3 - 5/7 | 1,011 adults | 20% | 4% |
| Wall Street Journal/NBC[4] | 4/17 - 4/20 | 900 adults | 20% | 3.3% |
| Public Policy Polling[5] | 4/17 - 4/18 | 648 registered voters | 18% | 3.9% |
Methodology
For Ballotpedia's presidential approval, congressional approval, and direction of the country polling results, we take an average of the most recent polls on one or more of these topics conducted by 12 sources. Polls may be included in the average for up to 30 days, though this timeline may be adjusted to account for major news events as we attempt to balance the need for a larger sample of results with the need to remove outdated information. For a full description of our methodology and polling explanations, see: Ballotpedia's Polling Indexes.
What's in a name?
Pliny the Elder, a scholar from the Roman Empire, is most well known for writing the encyclopedic work Naturalis Historia, or “Natural History.” His extremely thorough work covered everything from botany to technology. Naturalis Historia, one of the largest Roman works that still exists from the first century A.D., became an example for future encyclopedic works through its formatting, references, and comprehensiveness.
Today, Ballotpedia works to preserve and expand knowledge, just like Pliny did hundreds of years ago. One of the features of Ballotpedia, the encyclopedia of American politics, was a daily statistic called Pliny’s Point. Each day, between January 20, 2017 and September 1, 2017, readers learned where Americans stood on the direction of the country, or their approval of elected officials.
Click here for more Pliny's Point articles.
See also
Ballotpedia daily polling averages:
Stay in the know:
- The Weekly Brew
- The Daily Brew
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition, 2016-2017
- Policy issues under the Trump administration, 2017-2021
- 115th United States Congress
- Special elections to the 115th United States Congress (2017-2018)
Footnotes
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Congressional Job Approval," accessed May 8, 2017
- ↑ YouGov, "The Economist/YouGov Poll," May 6 - May 9, 2017
- ↑ Gallup, "Americans' Approval of Congress Unchanged in May," May 10, 2017
- ↑ [http://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/17119NBCWSJAprilPollFullRelease.pdf The Wall Street Journal, "April Poll Full Release," April 24, 2017
- ↑ Public Policy Polling, "Democrats Have Big Enthusiasm Edge for 2018," April 20, 2017
