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AbstractThe scholarly literature on US–UK relations has been marked by recurrent debate over the health and utility of the special relationship, recently enlivened by the policy tensions and political turbulence of the Trump presidency. The literature has also seen a social and cultural 'turn', with a growing focus on the broader linkages between the two countries' societies and cultures. However, there has been limited analysis of public opinion in Britain in recent scholarly research. This article examines the 'image of America' in British public opinion in the twenty-first century, across recent Republican and Democratic presidencies. It uses data from the annual Pew Global Attitudes survey series and Transatlantic Trends survey series to undertake systematic analysis of these quantitative data sources. It examines the following areas: the performance and policies of presidents from Bush to Biden, the US and its people, the state of bilateral relations, and NATO. It examines aggregate-level opinion and also pays close attention to views across different societal groups, based on demographic characteristics, party support and left–right ideology. The paper makes a significant and distinctive contribution to scholarly research into US–UK relations.

Building on Brown (1997) and Field's (2001) research into religious decline and secularisation in Scotland in the later decades of the 20th-century, this article uses data from recurrent social surveys, nationally-representative of the Scottish adult population, to assess the nature and extent of religious change in the 21st-century. It examines recent trends in religious affiliation and attendance in Scotland, compares key indicators in England and Scotland to assess areas of similarity and difference in terms of religion and secularity, and assesses the contemporary socio-demographic basis of affiliation and attendance in Scotland. The empirical results show that religious affiliation and attendance have further attenuated in Scotland in recent years, with a growing proportion of adults reporting that they were raised outside of any religious tradition. Indicators of secularity are most marked amongst younger age groups. The 'haemorrhage of faith' documented in the latter part of the 20th-century in Scotland has continued into the early part of the 21st-century.

The article conducts a detailed and robust analysis of the social and attitudinal underpinnings of general support for the war in Afghanistan. The article contributes to scholarly understanding of public attitudes in Britain on foreign policy issues and to the wider literature on public opinion and war. The findings underline the long-standing 'gender gap' in attitudes to war, with men more in favour. Labour partisanship and political knowledge are directly related to support for the war, though there is only weak evidence that the effects of partisanship are mediated via political knowledge. This article analyses the micro-level factors affecting public opinion in Britain towards the long-running war in Afghanistan, a major foreign policy issue in the post-9-11 era. It examines the effects of social and attitudinal factors, including perceptions of how the war is going. There is a strong evidence of a 'gender gap', with men more in favour, while those with higher educational attainment are more supportive. Perceptions of the war's progress play a strong role in shaping general support. Labour partisans are more supportive while political knowledge is positively-related to support for the war. There is weaker evidence that the effects of partisanship are mediated via political knowledge. This article contributes to the scholarly understanding of public attitudes in Britain on foreign policy issues and to the wider literature on public opinion and military intervention. Adapted from the source document.

This research note examines the party political basis of attitudes in Britain towards the gay marriage debate using evidence from two nationally representative surveys. It first assesses changes in opinion towards same-sex marriage in recent years, showing that most groups have increased their support for such a measure. Finally, it then analyses the sources of public attitudes on the issue at two points in time, 2008 and 2012, showing consistent findings on the basis of sex, age group, education and religious affiliation. The effects for partisanship are only significant in 2012, which may reflect the growing public prominence and party politicisation of the issue. Adapted from the source document.

This article examines the relationship between religious factors and opposition to abortion in Britain. It provides a detailed analysis of public opposition towards abortion undertaken for different reasons, as well as general views on whether abortion is justified or not. It assesses the relative influence of religious faith using the multi-dimensional 'belonging, behaving and believing' framework for micro-level analysis, as well as the impact of personal salience. It also accounts for the impact of socio-demographic factors and political partisanship. It uses data from two nationally representative social surveys and multivariate estimation techniques. The main finding is that opposition to abortion is not solely based on differences in faith or denominational affiliation but that greater religious involvement or commitment, as measured by attendance at services and personal salience, and more traditionalist beliefs underpin opposition. These findings generally hold across surveys, different estimation techniques and different specifications of the dependent variable.

AbstractPublic opinion research has demonstrated that minority religious and ethnic groups hold distinctive preferences on foreign policy issues, including military interventions in the Cold War and post-Cold War eras. There has been little scholarly research in Britain into the attitudes of minority groups on foreign policy issues. This article uses a nationally-representative survey of the ethnic minority population in Britain to examine the sources of public opinion towards the war in Afghanistan. Using multivariate analysis, it finds strong effects for religious affiliation, religiosity and political alienation. There is also evidence of a "gender gap" and age-related differences. The paper contributes to the literature on the impact of religion on public opinion and foreign policy and to analysis of the political attitudes of minority groups in Britain.

AbstractBritain has participated in several military interventions of varying duration, extent and political controversy in recent years. This article analyses public opinion towards the most recent intervention in Libya in 2011, looking at three different aspects of the topic. First, it examines differences in cross‐national attitudes towards military action in Libya amongst NATO countries. Secondly, it then looks in detail at which social groups were more or less likely to approve of British involvement, comparing this with group attitudes towards Britain's role in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thirdly, it assesses how public opinion shifted during the course of the action in Libya, looking at three key indicators of the popular mood: whether Britain was right or wrong to take military action; how well the war is going; and assessments of David Cameron's handling of the conflict. Broader reflections are then made about public opinion towards British involvement in future military action.