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Pliny's Point on May 23, 2017
May 23, 2017: According to an average of recent polls, 35 percent of the nation's residents think the U.S. is headed in the right direction, with a 59 percent majority who think the country is on the wrong track. This is the lowest direction of country rating since the beginning of May. Individual polls included in this average range from 28 to 43 percent who think the country is heading in the right direction.
| Source | Date range | Sample size | % who think the U.S. is headed in the right direction | Margin of error (+/-) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Politico/Morning Consult[1] | 5/16 - 5/18 | 1,970 registered voters | 40% | 2% |
| Rasmussen Reports[2] | 5/14 - 5/18 | 2,500 likely voters | 34% | 2% |
| Economist/YouGov[3] | 5/13 - 5/16 | 1,298 registered voters | 30% | 3.2% |
| Reuters/Ipsos[4] | 5/12 - 5/16 | 1,868 adults | 28% | 2.6% |
| IBD/TIPP[5] | 4/28 - 5/4 | 904 adults | 43% | 3.3% |
| CBS News[6] | 4/21 - 4/24 | 1,214 adults | 36% | 3% |
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account for major news events as we attempt to balance the need for a larger sample of results with the need to remove outdated information.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
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- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition, 2016-2017
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- 115th United States Congress
- Special elections to the 115th United States Congress (2017-2018)
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico/Morning Consult, "National Tracking Poll," May 16-18, 2017
- ↑ Rasmussen Reports, "Right Direction or Wrong Track," May 22, 2017
- ↑ YouGov, "The Economist/YouGov Poll," May 13 - May 16, 2017
- ↑ Ipsos, "Ipsos Poll Conducted for Reuters: Core Political Data," May 10, 2017
- ↑ Investor's Business Daily, "Trump's Approval Climbs As His Tax Cut Plan Wins Strong Support — IBD/TIPP Poll," May 8, 2017
- ↑ CBS News, "100 days: Sharp partisan divides mark Trump presidency - CBS News poll," April 26, 2017
