WASHINGTON, January 16 (Sputnik) — Majority of Americans believe that defending the United States from terrorist attacks should be a top policy priority for the US government in 2015, results of a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center showed.
“There has been little change over the past two years in the number saying that defending against terrorism should be a top priority; in fact, this has consistently been among the public’s leading policy goals since 2002. But it has moved to the top of the priorities list as the economy and jobs have fallen,” report published by the research center Thursday said.
Since the beginning of Obama’s second term as a president in 2013, US economy has improved, so less people pointed the need to strengthen it, report said. The actual percentage of concerned fell from 86 in 2013 to 75 percent this year.
About two-thirds of US citizens say it is more important to focus on domestic policy at the moment. At the same time, the number of those who prioritize foreign policy has roughly doubled in the past year, the poll showed.
Pew Research Center concluded that public’s policy priorities have changed in the light of persisting terrorist threats and improved financial situation in the country.