Institute researchers conducted a comparative study examining US public opinion in over a nearly 20-year period from 2002-2019; the research reveals important changes in Americans' support for anti-Muslim policies and offers insight into how intergroup hostility evolves over time. Drawing on two nationally representative surveys--Robert Wuthnow's 2002 Religious Diversity Survey and the 2019 Ecklund and Scheitle Experiences with Religious Discrimination Survey--the research highlights encouraging declines in overt support for discriminatory policies and a troubling rise in polarization.
In 2002, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, support for policies that restricted Muslim settlement or gathering in the US was relatively widespread and cut across nearly all demographic groups. Americans' reactions resembled a broad response to an eternal shock, with little difference by religion, political party age, gender, or race.
By 2019, explicit support for these policies had dropped sharply. Only 17% of Americans favored making it harder for Muslims to settle in the US, down from 38% in 2002. Opposition increased as well: nearly three-quarters of respondents in 2019 opposed such restrictions. However, this decline in support was accompanied by increasing political and social polarization. Where attitudes once showed few demographic divides, they are now strongly patterned. Political affiliation emerged as a major factor: Republicans in 2019 were substantially more likely than Democrats to favor restrictive policies. This partisan gap was virtually nonexistent in 2002.