United States Presidential Approval Rating

United States Presidential Approval Rating

In the United States, presidential job approval ratings were introduced by George Gallup in the late 1930s (probably 1937) to gauge public support for the President of the United States during his term. An approval rating is a percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Typically, an approval rating is given to a political figure based on responses to a poll in which a sample of people are asked whether they approve or disapprove of that particular political figure. A typical question might ask:

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President?"

Like most surveys that predict public opinion, the approval rating is subjective. Many unscientific approval rating systems exist that skew popular opinion. However, the approval rating is generally accepted as a statistically valid indicator of the comparative changes in the popular US mood regarding a president. The website RealClearPolitics.com keeps track of the current polling averages, which can be seen below.

Read more about United States Presidential Approval Rating:  President Barack Obama, Historical Comparison

Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states, presidential and/or approval:

    “The real charm of the United States is that it is the only comic country ever heard of.”
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    “The real charm of the United States is that it is the only comic country ever heard of.”
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    “Institutions of higher education in the United States are products of Western society in which masculine values like an orientation toward achievement and objectivity are valued over cooperation, connectedness and subjectivity.”
    —Yolanda Moses (b. 1946)

    “Under a Presidential government, a nation has, except at the electing moment, no influence; it has not the ballot-box before it; its virtue is gone, and it must wait till its instant of despotism again returns.”
    —Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)

    “The approval of the public is to be avoided like the plague. It is absolutely essential to keep the public from entering if one wishes to avoid confusion. I must add that the public must be kept panting in expectation at the gate by a system of challenges and provocations.”
    —André Breton (1896–1966)