Murrell Library Research Guides: Finding Statistical Information: Public Opinion

Major U.S. Political Opinion Sources

The 2016 USC Dornsife / LA Times Presidential Election Poll
Representative internet panel of about 3000 respondents were asked questions on the 2016 election about every 5 days from July to November. Data is freely available.
American National Election Studies (ANES), 1948+
Oldest continuous series of survey data investigating electoral behavior and attitudes in the United States (since 1948). ANES interviews are conducted before and after presidential elections and after national congressional elections. Post-election interviews include questions on actual voting behavior. Click on "Data Center" at the top of the page to download the datasets for the various waves. Click on "Utilities" to browse/search lists of questions and variables. For quick online analysis, use Berkeley's SDA service.
The American Panel Survey (TAPS)
TAPS is a monthly online survey of a national probability sample from a panel of about 2,000 adults in the United States with a high response and retention rate (approximately 75-80% of the TAPS Panel complete each TAPS wave during the year). Recurring questions include a battery of approval measures, economic evaluations, ideology and party identification, candidate evaluations, and major issues, such as immigration and the Supreme Court. Data may include questions fielded by additional researchers. 2011+. Data in Stata, SPSS, and R formats.
AP-NORC polls
AP-NORC's polls are typically archived at Roper after about a year delay. More recent poll datasets are available on their website with about a 6 month embargo.
Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project (CCAP)
A six-wave panel survey (sample size 20,000) of the American electorate (registered voters only) preceding and immediately after the 2008 Presidential elections. Participants from battle-ground states are overrepresented, so that each strata (battle-ground and non-battleground) makes 50% of the sample. More than 1700 variables measure attentiveness, issues, candidate assessment, vote intentions, presidential nominee preferences, media consumption, political information, religion, and demographics. Data in .csv, Stata, and SPSS. (Note: a 2012 survey was conducted but has not been released yet.)
Cooperative Congressional Election Study, 2005+
A 50,000+ person national stratified sample survey allowing analysis at the congressional district level. Half of the questionnaire consists of Common Content asked of all respondents (much of which remains the same each wave), and half of the questionnaire consists of Team Content designed by each participating team and asked of a subset of 1,000 people (generally not accessible). Topics include registration and voting, political knowledge, ideology, and policy preferences related to key issues on which Congress has taken roll call votes in the preceding two legislative sessions. Has both pre-election and post-election waves. Includes validated registration and turnout variables.
Democracy Fund VOTER Surveys
The Views of the Electorate Research (VOTER) survey, conducted in partnership with YouGov, "polled 8,000 adults—most of whom had participated in similar surveys in mid-2016, 2012 and 2011, which allowed for a unique longitudinal data set and deep exploration into many hotly-debated subjects of the election." Surveys for 2016 and 2017 include measures of political attitudes, values, and affinities in 2011 as well as self-reports of turnout and vote choice in November 2012 and 2016. Data in .csv, Stata, and SPSS formats.
Electoral Integrity Project
An independent academic study founded in 2012, the Electoral Integrity Project addresses three questions: When do elections meet international standards of electoral integrity? What happens when elections fail to do so? What can be done to mitigate these problems?
more...less...
The research team is based at the University of Sydney and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
General Social Suvery (GSS) 1972+
The GSS is a long running survey of social, cultural and political indicators. Probably the single best source of data on societal trends. Includes questions on presidential vote choice, party ID, interest in politics, and more. You can download the full dataset or extracts, and you can also analyze it online using Berkeley's SDA service.
National, State, and Primary Election Exit Polls (1972+)
Questions about vote choice for president, Congress, gubernatorial races, important issues affecting the vote decision, presidential approval, and a number of current national, state, and local issues. Includes basic demographic variables, such as gender, race, education, income, and age. In most years, exit polls are only conducted in a selection of the states. Data is no longer restricted.

For 2018, the collection includes AP VoteCast, which uses a random sample of registered voters to calibrate a massive poll (116,792 voters and 22,137 nonvoters) conducted using opt-in online panels rather than a traditional exit poll. (Also available via ICPSR.)

For aggregate statistics, see CNN's exit poll pages:
- 2020
- 2018
- 2016
- 2014
- 2012 (access polls through each race or state)
- 2010 (from NYT)
- 2008, 2006
- 2004 (access polls through each race or state)
- 2002 unavailable; the company conducting the polling didn't supply the data to news agencies on election night due to a problem
- 2000 (archived site, many pages missing)
National Annenberg Election Survey (NAES), 2000-2008
Large telephone and online survey of 30–60,000 adults that asks about attitudes and knowledge of candidates and political figures, current policy issues, media use, campaign discourse, political participation, and voting behavior, with an emphasis on issues of political communication. Data generally in SPSS or Stata formats. Includes a large sample of panel data.
Odum Institute
The Odum Institute has a large archive of public opinion data, including more than 1,000 Harris Polls from as early as 1958, the National Network of State Polls collection (775 studies from more than 25 states), the Carolina Poll (1977–2005), Monmouth University Polling Institute polls (2011+), the Southern Focus Poll (1992–2001), and some USA Today polls (1984–1993).
Pew Research Center, 1997+
The Pew Research Center is a "nonpartisan fact tank" conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis, and other empirical social science research around several broad themes: U.S. politics and policy, use and influence of the media, the role of the internet and technology, Hispanics in the U.S., the role of religion in public life in the U.S. and beyond, social & demographic trends in the U.S., and global attitudes. All data and reports can be browsed by topic, searched by question, and are freely downloadable. 1997-present.
Rand American Life Panel Survey
Nationally representative, probability-based panel of over 6000 U.S. adults 18 and older. Panel members are provided with the technology to respond to surveys, so the panel is representative of the whole adult U.S. population, not just those with internet access. ALP has fielded over 450 surveys on multiple topics including more than 50 waves about the effects of the 2008 financial crisis, multiple waves on the Affordable Care Act, and multiple election surveys: a biweekly pre- and post-election survey of the 2008 presidential election, a 5 month Continuous 2012 Presidential Election Poll, a 6 wave 2014 midterm election survey, and a 6 wave 2016 Presidential Election Panel Survey (under embargo until Dec. 2017). Data (in Stata format) is free after registration. 2006+.
Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS)
TESS provides researchers with shared access to a nationally representative online sample to allow them to conduct randomized social science experiments. Many of these studies utilize surveys with experimental treatments. Each study contains a project proposal and experimental results data.

For a guide to historical sources, both domestic and international, focused on question texts and summary statistics, see Princeton University's guide Public Opinion Polls for Historians guide.

You can find other relevant public opinion data from our Data and Statistical Services (DSS) site.

Multistate and Regional Polls

For additional state sources, see this list of academic & not-for-profit survey research organizations maintained by the U. of Illinois at Chicago Survey Research Laboratory.

Polling Report
State-by-state data from election and issue polling: campaign polls, media polls, academic polls, and polls by political, business and public-interest groups. For access to subscriber-only content, come see me.
SurveyUSA State & Local Polls
Survey organization which works primarily with local news stations to conduct polls. Contains a broad collection of polling results for states, cities, and Designated Market Areas (DMAs) back to the mid-2000s. Data are somewhat detailed cross-tabulations in HTML.
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia. Also in IPOLL.
Pollster.com
Link to state indexes for various races. From Huffington Post
Public Policy Polling
State and national level polls on public policy issues. 2006+
Suffolk University Political Research Institute
Massacusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri, Kentucky, Oregon and Indiana.

Other Regional Public Opinion

Afrobarometer
Measures the social, political and economic atmosphere in Africa. Beginning with 12 countries in Round 1 (1999–2001), it now (Round 7, 2017–18) conducts surveys in more than 30 countries (and 115 languages) comprising 76% of Africa's population. See the coverage by country chart. Data in SPSS for individual countries as well as a merged file; documentation in English. Online analysis is available.
Arab Barometer
Survey designed to assess citizen attitudes in the Arab world on such topics as: support for democratic institutions, political interest and participation, attitudes toward terrorism and political violence, conceptions and interpretations of Islam, the relationship between religion and politics, and attitudes toward Middle East international relations. 5 waves, 2006-2019. Downloads in multiple formats or can be analyzed online. Also available through ICPSR.
AsiaBarometer
Covers 29 countries in East, Southeast, South, and Central Asia (15 in two or more waves), 2003–2007. Topics include governance, democratic consolidation/regression, social values, happiness, quality of life, religiosity, mass media, identity, and globalization. Data is available, but must be requested first.
Caucasus Barometer
Annual household survey about social, economic, and political issues and attitudes in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, 2008–2015. Also includes additional surveys of public attitudes to policies and institutions in Georgia. Data in SPSS and Stata; documentation in English. Can also be analyzed online.
Asian (East Asia & South Asia) Barometer
Covers 8–14 countries in East Asia in multiple waves (2001–03; 2005–08; 2010–12; 2014–16); and 2 waves for 5 South Asian countries. Topics include economic evaluations; trust in institutions, political participation, media use, political evaluations; socio-political values, and views on international relations. Data in SPSS; free, but requires individual application. Online analysis available for waves 1 & (part of) 2.
Latinobarometro
Latinobarómetro is an annual public opinion survey that involves some 19,000 interviews in 18 Latin American countries (also includes Spain for most years) from 1995–2015. Datasets in multiple formats; results can also be analyzed online.
Latin American Databank at Roper
Public opinion surveys conducted by the survey research community in Latin America. To date, the collection holds nearly 1,200 studies from 16 countries, with the largest contributions coming from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, primarily 1990s forward.
Additional Surveys by Region
Our Data and Statistical Services catalog has for additional public opinion polls that can be filtered by country or region..

National Election Surveys by Country

Argentine 2015 Election Panel
A pre- and post-wave panel survey conducted during the 2015 general election campaign in Argentina. The survey covers topics such as vote choice, partisanship, candidate evaluations, clientelism, corruption, economic policy, security, and media attention. The survey will also form part of the CSES.
Australian Election Study
Run in conjunction with Australian Federal elections, the AES fields surveys among a nationally representative sample of voters and among major party candidates standing for election (the latter is the Australian Candidate Study). Both the voter and candidate instruments combine a common set of questions. 1987–2019 (with a related precursor series going back to 1967). Data in Stata and SPSS formats. You can find related opinion polls in the Australian Data Archive.
Austrian Election Study
Uses a pre-post election panel survey and a rolling-cross-section survey with a panel component to investigate voter attitudes and behavior. Additional modules include detailed quantitative analyses of party manifestos; party leader statements in the news media; party press releases and communications; and content analysis of the coverage of Austrian politics and politicians in print, TV, and online news media during the eight weeks before the day of the election. 2002–2017. Data in SPSS and Stata; most documentation in English.
Belgian National Election Studies
Post-election surveys in conjunction with Belgian federal elections, 1991–2014. Data is not available online, but try contacting the listed project leads on the staff page. Data may also be requested for studies through 2010 from the Pole Interuniversitaire Opinion publique et Politique.
Belgium PartiRep Electoral Surveys
Electoral panel surveys with pre- and post-election waves conducted in conjunction with Belgian regional elections in 2009 and federal elections in 2014. Also includes an exit poll for the 2012 municipal elections. Codebook is in English; data is free but must be requested. NOTE: site is currently down; try contacting the project leads at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
Brazilian Election Studies
Post-election survey in connection with national presidential and parliamentary elections; 5 waves 2002–2018. Included in CSES modules 2–4. Must register to download data; documentation in Portuguese only. The public opinion database also includes hundreds of other Brazilian surveys that ask about elections.
British Election Study (BES)
The BES conducts a face-to-face survey to obtain responses from a representative sample of the general population after the election (and also before in a few instances). There is panel data for many years, esp. the most recent. Starting in 2001, the BES also began collecting daily campaign data (or "rolling thunder" data) during the official ‘short’ 30 day election campaign. These are daily cross-sections and sometimes also include a panel component where respondents were interviewed once before the election, once during and then once again after the election. 1964–2019. Data in SPSS and Stata.
Canadian Election Study
1965–2015. The CES has typically included a rolling cross-section pre-election survey with post-election panel data on 50% or more of the original sample. Data is in SPSS, Stata, and CSV and documentation is in both English and French. Data can be analyzed online via the <odesi> archive; under Elections & Politics category. <odesi> contains additional Canadian public opinion, including a series of Ontario Election Studies (1968–2007) and Gallup polls (1940s–2000s).
Chile Estudio Nacional de Opinión Pública
Long-running series of national public opinion surveys that regularly includes many political questions, 1997–present. Participates in the ISSP. Data in SPSS.
Czech Election Surveys
Some pre-election and exit polls, 1996–2017. Click ČSDA, then Česky, then Volební výzkumy. See also the monthly polls under IVVM (1989–2000) and CVVM (2000+), which always have questions on political preferences and ideology self-classification as well as other political topics. Data can be analyzed online or downloaded after a free registration. Most polls have only Czech documentation.
Danish National Election Studies, 1971–
Nationwide representative surveys of voters after each general parliamentary election, 1971–2011 (2015 can be requested). The main purpose of the studies is to identify the main reasons why voters vote as they do and to analyze changes in the electorate over time. Data can be analyzed online or complete files downloaded in multiple formats. (Click on "Election Studies" in left panel.) Documentation is in English.
Dutch (Netherlands) National Election Studies
Post-election surveys in conjunction with lower house parliamentary elections, 1967+. Core questions have remained largely unchanged over the years, covering expectations and evaluations of government, the most important problems facing the people of the Netherlands, voting behavior and participation history, and knowledge of and faith in the nation's political leaders. Data in SPSS; documentation in English.
Election Studies from Eastern Europe
Series of election studies covering the emergence of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe conducted by the Social Science Research Center Berlin, 1990s (primarily). Data can be analyzed online or downloaded in multiple formats; documentation in English.
Estonia National Election Study
Post-election poll conducted after parliamentary elections, 2003–2011. Data in Stata, SPSS, or .csv. Free, but must be requested.
Finnish National Election Studies
Collected after parliamentary elections. Main themes include political participation, political attitudes, candidate and party choice, voting, and election campaigning. English documentation available; 2003–2015 (a pre/post 1991 survey by a previous team is also available). Survey questions and frequencies can be explored online. Additional surveys related to Finnish political behavior and attitudes are available.
French Electoral Studies
Online analysis of French post-election surveys since 1958; documentation in French only (earlier years listed as Enquêtes électorales françaises). Datasets can be requested via the Réseau Quetelet.
German National Election Studies
Over 40 election surveys from 1949–2005 conducted in conjunction with federal parliamentary elections. Many of these have been panel studies covering pre- and post-election waves. Can also be analyzed online. In 2009, it became the German Longitudinal Election Study with waves in 2009, 2013, and 2017. English documentation is provided for both series.
Hellenic (Greece) National Election Studies
Post-electoral survey of the Greek parliamentary elections in 4 waves, 2009-2015 (including both elections in 2015). Also includes candidate surveys and data from an online voting advice application. Data in SPSS; archived at ICPSR (linked from site).
Hong Kong Election Study
Pre- and post-election surveys around the legislative council, chief executive, and by-elections in Hong Kong, 2015-present. Data in SPSS and Stata. 2015 available online; other years available on request.
Hungarian Election Study
Post-election survey, 2002–2010. Choose "elections" in keyword search box. Data in SPSS; some surveys have English documentation. Additional Hungarian surveys of political attitudes (1980s+; some documentation only in Hungarian) available through the TÁRKI data archive using the keyword "mass political behaviour". Requests are free for ICPSR members.
Icelandic National Election Study
1983–2016. Post-election cross-sectional telephone survey. Data in SPSS. Can also be analyzed online. Documentation is in English.
Indian National Election Study
Conducted after national parliamentary elections in 1967, 1971, 1979 (pre-election poll only), and 1985. After a decade-long gap, the surveys have been conducted at each general election since 1996 and feature much larger sample sizes as well as a 6 wave panel covering the 1996–1999 elections. Raw datasets do not appear to be available for the studies from 1996 on, but tables can be requested for a fee from the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
Irish National Election Study
Five-wave panel survey encompassing the Irish general elections of 2002 and 2007 as well as the local and European Parliament elections of 2004. A 2011 wave incorporating module 4 of the CSES is in process. The Irish Public Opinion Archive contains crosstabs for a wide selection of Irish commercial polls from 1970–2009; some of the poll datasets (in SPSS) from this period can be downloaded from the Irish Elections Data Archive.
Israel National Election Studies
1969–2019. The INES has varied between a pre-election cross-sectional survey and a two-wave pre- and post-election panel and since 1996 has used a stratified sample of Jews and Arabs. 2019 is a 4 wave pre/post panel covering the April and September elecitons. Data in SPSS and Stata; English documentation is available.
Italian National Election Study
1968–2018. ITANES has been primarily a post-election cross-sectional telephone survey, though recent iterations have included pre- and post-election panels. Data in SPSS; includes English documentation.
Japanese Election Surveys
Social Science Japan Data Archive collection of election surveys, 1963–2017. Data is generally free, but users must register and request first. Data and documentation in Japanese only. The Roper Center also has a large collection of Japanese polls, primarily by Nikkei Research and the USIA, which regularly include questions on elections, government evaluations, and party preferences, 1953+. The Japanese General Social Survey, 2000–2012, also asks questions about party preferences and government evaluation and has English documentation. The UTokyo-Asahi Survey (UTAS) run by Masaki Taniguchi at University of Tokyo has both voter and candidate surveys from 2003–19.
Korean National Election Studies
Post-election surveys in conjunction with presidential and national assembly elections in South Korea, 1992+. Click on Browse by Series, then choose the desired election type. Documentation in English; data in SPSS. (Local election surveys and additional years of the others are available through the Korean version of the site.) The Korean General Social Survey, 2003–2016, also asks questions about party preferences and government evaluation and has English documentation.
Lithuanian National Election Study
Conducted for the first time in 2012. Post-election survey that also included a pre/post internet panel, media campaign monitoring, and a candidate survey. Documentation in Lithuanian only; data in SPSS or can be analyzed online. Additional post-election polls for 2004, 2008, and 2009 parliamentary and presidential elections are available.
Mexican National Election Study (Estudio Nacional Electoral)
Postelectoral surveys extending the CSES common modules for presidential and legislative elections 1997-2015 (2012+ have pre-electoral waves). Data in SPSS. El Laboratorio Nacional de Políticas Públicas (LNPP) del Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) also provides access to numerous other Mexican political surveys.
Montenegrin National Election Study
Postelectoral surveys conducted after the 2012 and 2016 parliamentary elections. 2012 only included questions from CSES, but 2016 included additional national questions. Data is free, but must be requested. An online analysis tool is also available.
New Zealand Election Study
1990–2017. Primarily a post-election survey, though some years have had a pre-post panel and there have been some post-election panels across elections. Typically has included a Maori oversample. Allows for exploration of the effects of NZ's shift in 1996 from a first past the post electoral system to a mixed member proportional system. Site also includes historical election data for NZ. Also available through the Univ. of Auckland's figshare site.
Norwegian National Election Studies
Conducted in connection with parliamentary elections, 1957+. Includes several panel surveys and some cumulative trend files. Data in multiple formats; English documentation available. No cost, but must be requested. Also available for online analysis. Site includes surveys related to local elections (1995–2011) and among immigrants with voting rights (1987–2013).
Polish General Election Study
Post-election polls in conjunction with parliamentary elections, 1997–2011. The 2005 elections coincided with presidential elections, so that year's study is a two-wave panel. 1997–2005 has English documentation; 2011 only in Polish. CBOS provides time-series trends of evaluations of government and the political situation in Poland since 1989 in English (can be downloaded to Excel).
Portuguese National Election Study (Estudo Eleitoral Português)
Post-election surveys conducted in conjunction with both parliamentary and presidential elections, 2002–2015. Can be analyzed online (2002 title is As eleições legislativas de 2002- Inquérito pós-eleitoral). See also Portuguese Elections and Political Representation Project, which included multiple voter surveys covering a range of political topics (2006, 2008, 2012), with data in SPSS and documentation in English.
Romanian Election Study, 2009
Postelectoral survey in conjunction with presidential and European elections in 2009. Documentation in Romanian only; data in SPSS. Additional polls with questions about electoral preferences are available for 2011 and in a semi-annual Public Opinion Barometer, 1994–2007.
Russian Election Studies
Series of election surveys organized by Timothy Colton at Harvard Univeristy, 1999-2012. The 1995–1996 study is available through ICPSR. See also an online analysis option for a 7 wave pre/post panel study in conjunction with parliamentary and presidential elections in 2011–2012 in Russian only. (Other election-related polls are also available.) Individual question trends from VCIOM's (Russian Public Opinion Research Center) All Russia "Express" poll, 1992-2017. VCIOM also archives its daily "Sputnik" poll with Roper (July 2018+).
Slovenian Political Surveys
Slovenia has participated in multiple rounds of the CSES but doesn't have a separate national election study. The Slovenian Data Archive provides access to analyze and download multiple polls with political content: SJM - Slovene Public Opinion Survey (yearly from 1968–1988; 2-4 times a year thereafter) participates in the ISSP and European Social Survey and always includes questions on Slovenian politics;PB - Politbarometer (monthly, 2000-2014) covers evaluations of the government and party preferences among other topics; SUTR - Slovenian pulse (monthly, 2009-2014) covers democracy, Europe, political orientations, and political party preferences. Study titles and abstracts in English; all other documentation in Slovenian.
South Africa National Election Studies
Polls in conjunction with the 1994,1999, 2004, 2009, and 2015 general elections
as well as 1995 local elections. Pre-2000 are pre-electoral; post-2000 are post-electoral surveys. Project participates in both CNEP and CSES. See also the South African Social Attitudes Survey, 2003+, which asks a battery of political questions, and the South African Voter Participation Survey 2000+, pre-electoral surveys evaluating voting behavior and interest (embargoed until Apr. 2020). Additional surveys on attitudes toward sociopolitical change in the 1980s and 1990s are available from the South African Data Archive (site down as of Jan 2020).
Spanish Electoral Surveys
Archive of pre- and post-electoral surveys in Spain run in conjunction with national parliamentary, regional, municipal, and European Parliament elections, 1960s+. Also, access to monthly barometers of Spanish opinion, which field a set of questions on political attitudes and vote intentions each quarter. Full datasets can be downloaded or analyzed online (Spanish interface only); documentation in Spanish only. See also the "Public Opinion of Spaniards Survey", monthly 1986-2011.
Swedish National Election Studies
Run in conjunction with all parliamentary elections since 1956. Since 1973, has been a rolling panel in which half of the sample has been interviewed in connection with the previous election and the other half in connection with the succeeding election. (2014 and 2018 completed but not yet available.) Also includes surveys in conjunction with major referendums; European Parliament elections; a series on media election coverage; SVT exit polls, 1991–present; and the annual Society, Opinion, Media (SOM) survey, which includes many politics questions, 1986–present. Data in multiple formats; English documentation available. Free, but must be ordered.
Swiss Electoral Studies
Post-election survey in conjunction with national parliamentary elections, 1995+. Some years include panel and candidate surveys. SELECTS has also compiled a cumulative post-election survey file covering various opinion polls with election-related content from 1971–2007. See also the Voto (and its predecessor VoxIt) post-federal referendum survey, 1981+. Documentation primarily in German and French; though some is in English.
Taiwan’s Election and Democratization Study
Cross-sectional, post-election surveys in conjunction with presidential, legislative, and municipal elections in Taiwan, 2001+. Most have documentation in English; data in SPSS (users must register first). Several waves included CSES modules, though these include additional questions not in the CSES data. Also includes around 50 additional election surveys. Available for online analysis.

Topical and Special Population Polls

U.S. Presidential Approval
Sources for long-running time series of presidential public approval.
Gallup Poll Social Series
Topics are arranged thematically across 12 surveys. Gallup administers these surveys during the same month every year and includes the survey's core trend questions in the same order each administration. Princeton has trend files from 2000-2018:
1. Jan: Mood of the Nation
2. Feb: World Affairs
3. Mar: Environment
4. Apr: Economy and Personal Finance
5. May: Values and Beliefs
6. Jun: Minority Relations (last fielded 2016)
7. Jul: Consumption
8. Aug: Work and Education
9. Sep: Governance
10. Oct: Crime
11. Nov: Health Care
Gallup has information on methodology.
The 'Most Important Problem' Dataset (MIPD)
The Most Important Problem Dataset contains more than 832,000 Americans' responses to the "most important problem" question from over 600 surveys from 1939-2015. Responses are coded into a wide variety (58 at maximum) of issue areas that match issue classifications provided by Matthew Singer (2011), Manifesto Research on Political Representation (MARPOR), and the Comparative Agendas Project. Also codes a number of other contextual variables at the individual level (demographics, economic evaluations, political preferences, presidential approval, party competency) that make the dataset suitable for a variety of research purposes. There are 3 datasets: the individual level responses; aggregate percentages of respondents identifying a problem as the MIP monthly, quarterly, or annually; and a dataset with just the annual percentages. Data in Stata format.
Data on race and identity politics in the U.S.
This listing on my American Politics guide includes major polls investigating political behavior, participation, and attitudes of racial and ethnic groups and youth.
Roper Center Featured Data Collections
The Roper Center features several unique dataset collections on a variety of topics, including family planning in the 60s and 70s, NORC polls from the early postwar and Cold War era, the Virginia Slims American Women's Opinion polls 1970-2000, public understanding of science funded by the NSF, and the UBS Index of Investor Optimism 1996-2007.
2018 American Institutional Confidence Poll
Conducted by scholars at Georgetown University and YouGov, the AIC poll assessed how age, race, education, geography, partisanship, and social media use correlate with confidence in American institutions, views on how well our democracy is working today, and support for democratic norms.
Early Gallup Polls, 1936-1945
More than 300 hundred early Gallup polls reformatted, recoded, and re-weighted by Berinsky and Schickler to compensate for the non-probability (quota-controlled) sampling used before the 1950s.
Economic Inequality and Political Representation, 1964-2006 (Gilens)
Data from Martin Gilens's book Affluence and Influence of over 2,000 survey questions about a wide range of specific proposed policy changes (1964-2006). The degree of support for each of these proposed changes expressed by individuals in different income groups was then related to the subsequent policy outcomes showing that national policymakers are much more responsive to the policy preferences of the affluent than the middle class or the poor. Data in SPSS and Stata.
State of the First Amendment (1997 - 2006)
Collects data on Americans' attitudes towards First Amendment issues, including freedom of expression and tolerance for art that may be offensive to others.
Kaiser Family Foundation Polls
Questions and responses to health and healthcare surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation back to 1994. Use the Search or Question Finder links at the top of the page. Data is in iPoll.

Alaska–Iowa

Arizona

Cronkite-Eight Poll 1996-2009
Arizona State University, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Arkansas

Arkansas Poll 1999+
University of Arkansas, Dept. of Political Science, Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society

California

Deliberative Polling®: California 2011
Stanford University, Dept. of Communication, Center for Deliberative Democracy
The Field (California) Poll 1956+ (ended in 2016)
The Field Institute, San Francisco, CA
Orange County (California) Surveys
The Pacific Poll 2001
University of California - Irvine
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) 1998+

Connecticut

University of Connecticut/Hartford Courant Poll 2012+

Delaware

National Agenda Opinion Poll 2013
University of Delaware, Center for Political Communication

Florida

FIU/Florida Poll 1988-2006
Statewide survey of 1,200 Florida residents. Print publication by Florida International University Press for the years 1989-1992. The survey research lab at IPOR at Florida International University ceased operation on May 31, 2011.
Florida Omnibus Survey
Florida Opinion Research
Public Opinion Research Laboratory 2011+
University of North Florida (Results in press releases)

Georgia

Burruss Poll 2010
Kennesaw State University, A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research (Results in news releases)
Peach State Poll 2001-2008
University of Georgia, Carl Vinson Institute of Government

Illinois

Illinois Opinion Monitor 2007+
University of Illinois, Institute of Government & Public Affairs
Illinois Policy Survey 1996+
Northern Illinois University, Center for Governmental Studies
Paul SImon Public Policy Institute Poll 2008+
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois Poll 2010+
Southern Illinois University

Iowa

The Des Moines Register Iowa Poll
In IPOLL
Hawkeye Poll 2009+
University of Iowa, Political Science Department

Kansas

Kansas Speaks 2009+
Fort Hays State University, Docking Institute (Results published in reports)

Louisiana

Louisiana Survey 2011+
Louisiana State University

Maine

Maine People's Resource Center 2010+

Maryland

Goucher Poll 2012+
Goucher College (Results published in press releases)
Maryland Statewide Polls 2000+
Conducted by Gonzales Research & Marketing (Results published in PDF)

Massachusetts

Boston Globe Poll 2005+
U. of New Hampshire, Survey Center (Findings released in PDF)
UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion
Western New England University Polling Institute

Michigan

State of the State 1994+
Michigan State University, Institute for Public Policy & Social Research, Office for Survey Research

Minnesota

Humphrey Polling 2006+ (election years)
U. of Minnesota, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Center for the Study of Politics and Governance
Statewide Polls 1998+
St. Cloud State University (Findings and other documents presented in PDF)

Mississippi

Mississippi Poll1988+
Mississippi State University

Montana

Montana State University Billings Poll 1999+ (Findings presented in PDF)

New Hampshire

Granite State Poll 2002+
University of New Hampshire
The New Hampshire Poll 1976+
American Research Group, Inc..

New Jersey

Eagleton Poll 1971+
Rutgers University
Fairleigh Dickenson University PublicMind Poll 2001+
Monmouth University Polling Institute Reports 2005+; Monmouth University Polling Dataverse 2011+

New York

North Carolina

Carolina Issues Poll 2007-2012
Sponsored by NC Policy Watch.
The Carolina Poll 1980s-2000
U. of North Carolina, School of Journalism and Mass Communication (archived at the Odum Institute)
Civitas Poll 2005+
Conducted by Civitas Institute "North Carolina's Conservative Voice" (results published on website)
Elon University Poll 2000+
High Point University Poll 2010+

Ohio

Ohio Poll 1981+
University of Cincinnati, Institute for Policy Research (Press releases with results available online 2009+)
Ohio Poll 2013 +
Mercyhurst U., Center for Applied Politics (MCAP)

Oregon

Oregon Values & Beliefs Surveys 2013
"This project represents the third installment of the decennial Oregon Values and Beliefs Project, continuing and extending similar opinion research conducted in 1992 and 2002" (Findings presented in PDF format)

Pennsylvania

Franklin and Marshall College Poll 1995+
Successor to the Keystone Poll
Muhlenberg College Polling Institute ~2003+

Rhode Island

Taubman Center Opinion Polls 1985+
Brown University

South Carolina

South Carolina State Surveys 1989-2009 (Questionnaires, frequencies, and data)
U. of South Carolina
Winthrop Poll 2006+

Tennessee

MTSU Poll 2001+
Vanderbilt Poll 2011+

Texas

Statewide Survey 2005-2009 (Data and codebooks)
Texas Tech U., Earl Survey Research Laboratory
Texas Lyceum Poll 2007+
UT-Austin/Texas Tribune poll 2008+
Texas Project

Utah

Utah Voter Poll 2006+
Brigham Young University, Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy
Utah Colleges Exit Poll 1982+ (biennial)
Brigham Young University, Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy

Vermont

Castleton (State College) Polling Institute 2012+
Vermonter Poll 1990+
University of Vermont

Virginia

Hampton U. Center for Public Policy Poll 2013
Institute for Policy and Opinion Research 1994+
Roanoke College
UMW Survey 2013
U. of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies (Results published on web and in PDF. No information about archiving)
Virginia Tech Center for Survey Research (CSR) Published projects
Includes summaries of the Annual Survey of Quality of Life in the Commonwealth of Virginia (1993-2004), available in hard copy, Starting with the twelth (2002-2003) "All data from these annual surveys are archived by the National Network of State Polls housed at the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill." [website]

Washington

The Washington Poll 2006+
University of Washington, Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race & Sexuality (Results published on the web, in Powerpoint, and PDF)

West Virginia

The West Virgina Poll 1980+
From the marketing and opinion research firm Repass & Partners, Inc. (Published in PDF 2012+)

Wisconsin

The Badger Poll (2002-2011)
U. of Wisconsin Survey Center.
Marquette University Law School Poll 2012+
The Wisconsin Survey (1999-2017) (also via Internet Archive)
St. Norbert College Strategic Research Institute

Ohio–Wisconsin

Ohio

Ohio Poll 1981+

University of Cincinnati, Institute for Policy Research

Press releases with results available online 2009+

Ohio Poll 2013 +

Mercyhurst U., Center for Applied Politics (MCAP)

Oregon

Oregon Values & Beliefs Surveys 2013

"This project represents the third installment of the decennial Oregon Values and Beliefs Project, continuing and extending similar opinion research conducted in 1992 and 2002." [website]

Findings presented in PDF format.

Pennsylvania

Franklin and Marshall College Poll 1995+

Successor to the Keystone Poll

Muhlenberg College Polling Institute ~2003+

Rhode Island

Taubman Center Opinion Polls 1985+

Brown University

South Carolina

South Carolina State Surveys 1989-2009

U. of South Carolina

Questionnaires, frequencies, and data

Winthrop Poll 2006+

Tennessee

MTSU Poll 2001+

Vanderbilt Poll 2011+

Texas

Statewide Survey 2005-2009

Texas Tech U., Earl Survey Research Laboratory

Data and codebooks

Texas Lyceum Poll 2007+

UT-Austin/Texas Tribune poll 2008+

Texas Project

Utah

Utah Voter Poll 2006+

Brigham Young University, Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy

Utah Colleges Exit Poll 1982+ (biennial)

Brigham Young University, Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy

Vermont

Castleton (State College) Polling Institute 2012+

Vermonter Poll 1990+

University of Vermont

Virginia

Hampton U. Center for Public Policy Poll 2013

Institute for Policy and Opinion Research 1994+

Roanoke College

UMW Survey 2013

U. of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies

Results published on web and in PDF. No information about archiving.

Virginia Tech Center for Survey Research (CSR) Published projects

Includes summaries of the Annual Survey of Quality of Life in the Commonwealth of Virginia (1993-2004), available in hard copy, Starting with the twelth (2002-2003) "All data from these annual surveys are archived by the National Network of State Polls housed at the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill." [website]

Washington

The Washington Poll 2006+

University of Washington, Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race & Sexuality

Results published on the web, in Powerpoint, and PDF.

West Virginia

The West Virgina Poll 1980+

"Owned and operated by Repass & Partners, Inc., a marketing and opinion research firm." [website]

Data published in PDF from 2012+.

Wisconsin

The Badger Poll (2002-2011)

U. of Wisconsin Survey Center.

Marquette University Law School Poll 2012+

The Wisconsin Survey (1999-2017) (also via Internet Archive)

St. Norbert College Strategic Research Institute

European Public Opinion

Comparative Candidates Survey (CCS)
Data on candidates running for national parliamentary elections in 30+ countries (mostly European) using a common core questionnaire. Topics include political background and activities; campaigning; views on issues/policies, democracy, and representation; demographics and country data. Currently, two completed 5 year waves; third in process. Data is free, but requires registration.
EU Neighborhood Barometer
Six wave survey conducted between 2012 and 2014 in the Southern and Eastern EU Neighbourhood countries, from Morocco to Lebanon (Syria was not surveyed), and from Azerbaijan to Belarus, plus Russia. 1000 face-to-face interviews covering perception of living conditions, political issues, political efficacy across the region, attitudes toward the EU, and other topics. Data in SPSS and Stata; documentation in English.
Eurobarometer
A longstanding survey of public opinion in the EU and candidate countries. You can create tables by searching through questions and comparing countries responses over time. They also publish analyses of each wave of the survey. Use the Eurobarometer Question Search to find if and when a topic was covered on the Eurobarometer. Also includes a a guide to topical trends over time. For quick download of entire waves of the survey, use the series in ICPSR. 1970+
European Election Studies
1979–2019. Post-election surveys of electoral participation and voting behavior in European Parliament elections as well as citizens’ perceptions of and preferences about the EU and their evaluations of EU political performance. Also includes content analyses of party manifestos (“Euromanifestos”), elite surveys, and content analyses of election media coverage. 1000 respondents from each EU member country. Data can be downloaded in SPSS and Stata or analyzed online. GESIS also has a collection of Eurobarometer and other surveys covering EP elections (click Other Studies).
European Social Survey (ESS)
Biennial multi-country survey covering over 30 nations. The 1st round was fielded in 2002/2003, the 8th was completed in 2016. It monitors change and continuity in a wide range of social, political, moral, health, and demographic variables. You can download full datasets or analyze them online, after a free registration.
European Values Study
The European Values Study is a large-scale, cross-national, and longitudinal survey research program on how Europeans think about life, family, work, religion, politics, and society. Surveys were done in 1981, 1990, 1999, and 2008. You can download full datasets or analyze online after a free registration. For background on the EVS and associated publications, see http://www.europeanvaluesstudy.eu/
European Voter Database
Dataset consisting of all the national election studies documented in English from Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, 1960–1998. Data in SPSS and Stata; documentation in English. There is a processing fee for ordering this dataset.
New Baltic Barometer
Surveys of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, 1993–2004 with a focus on the different nationalities in the Baltics. Asks representative samples of each nationality similar sets of questions about their multiple identities, language use, political attitudes, economic behavior, and social conditions. For more information, see the CSPP pages.
New Democracies / New Europe Barometer
Includes nearly all the countries of East Central, East, and Southeast Europe, 1991–2005. Topics include evaluations of and attitudes to the economic, political, and social transformations of the region after the end of communism. For more information, see the CSPP pages.
New Russia Barometer
Annual survey in the Russian Federation, 1992–2012. Each survey has a nationwide sample of 1600 to 2000 respondents. Topics include political, economic, and social affairs. For more information, see the CSPP pages. Spreadsheets of monthly trend files from the surveys can be accessed through the Russia Votes site and online analysis is available for each wave plus a multi-wave trend file.
Transatlantic Trends Survey
United States and European public opinion on a host of transatlantic issues, including foreign policy challenges, support for NATO, the economy, and the rise of other world powers with an aim to foster debate on the strategic policy goals, objectives, and values of the United States and Europe as members of the transatlantic community. Full datasets are available through the Roper Center.

Global Public Opinion

Comparative National Elections Project
60 election surveys from 1990 to 2019 in 30 different countries on 5 continents, with multiple election surveys in 16 countries. Topics include personal networks, use of the mass media, socio-political values, democracy, civic participation, integrity of the electoral process, and voting behavior in the most recent election. Includes original country datasets plus a merged data set that includes the common questions from 48 surveys (through 2018). Documentation in English; datasets in SPSS.
Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)
Collaboration among election study teams to field a common module of survey questions in their post-election studies. Produces a single merged comparative dataset covering 55 countries over 5 waves (1996–present), with approx. 30 countries participating in 2 or more waves, and 25 in 4 or more waves. Also available for online analysis via GESIS.
Global Barometer
Collaborative survey project covering six regions: Africa (Afrobarometer), East and Southeast Asia (Asian Barometer), South Asia (South Asia Barometer), Central and South America (Latinobarómetro), the Middle East (Arab Barometer), and countries of former Soviet Union (Eurasia Barometer). Measures attitudes about politics, power, reform, democracy, etc. Two pooled waves (2005-2011 and 2011-2013) based on a common module of questions contained in the regional barometer surveys. Download the dataset or analyze online.
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The individual regional barometers are also listed below on this guide.
International Social Survey Programme
The ISSP is a cross-national survey program conducting annual surveys in a broad group of countries. The survey asks questions on a variety of topics. You can download full datasets or analyze online through GESIS (click on Archive on the left); some older modules can also be analyzed online through ASEP/JDS. Also has links to its 50 member states, which often provide additional national public opinion.
Pew Research Global Attitudes Project
The Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project conducts public opinion surveys around the world on a broad array of subjects ranging from people’s assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world and important issues of the day. Over 330,000 interviews in 60 countries have been conducted since 2001 as part of the project’s work.
Polling the Nations
Compilation of public opinion surveys conducted in the United States and more than 80 other countries. Searches at the question level; you can also browse by topic or country. Only provides summary response totals.
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Each record includes the question asked and the responses given, the polling organization responsible for the work, the date the information was released, the sample size, and the groups or areas included in the interview. Results can be downloaded in Excel.
Voice of the People End of Year Survey
The Voice of the People Survey Series is WIN/Gallup International Association's End of Year survey and is a global study that collects the public's view on the challenges that the world faces today. Conducted in approximately 50 countries, with a minimal sample size of 500 per country, topics include the economic situation in their country, their personal happiness, the most important problem facing the world today, the role of religion in their country, which country they would like to live in, female politicians, which country is the greatest threat to world peace, and corruption within their country. Data in multiple formats.
WorldPublicOpinion.org
WorldPublicOpinion.org is an international collaborative project managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the Univ of Maryland. Provides polling data and analysis from numerous sources. Full datasets can be downloaded from http://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/10117.
World Values Survey
Designed to enable a crossnational comparison of values and norms on a wide variety of topics and to monitor changes in values and attitudes across the globe. WVS has had six waves (1981-2014). You can download the full datasets for each wave or a longitudinal file covering all waves (click Data & Documentation on the left). You can also analyze them online.