Approval rating

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An approval rating is a polling term which reflects the percent of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Most often 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:

"Which of the following best describes your opinion of the things President George W. Bush has done: strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, strongly disapprove, or no opinion/undecided."

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 the general opinion of the people.

1 American presidential job approval
2 Related concepts
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] American presidential job approval

Image:Bush approval ratings line graph.png

Presidential job approval ratings were introduced by George Gallup in the late 1930s to gauge public support of the president. George W. Bush holds the record high approval rating of over 85% shortly after the September 11 attacks. The lowest approval rating ever recorded is held by Harry S. Truman, who in February 1952 had an approval rating of 22%. At the same time, Truman's disapproval rating was 65% (falling 2% from 67% in January 1952). Jimmy Carter is a close second, with approval ratings as low as 26% during his presidency.

Richard M. Nixon had a disapproval rating of 66% just before he resigned. Only four presidents since 1930 have gone their entire term in office without their disapproval rating reaching 50%: John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Gerald Ford.<ref>Presidential Job Approval - Joseph Carroll, Gallup poll, June 28, 2005</ref>

A popular president, John F. Kennedy's lowest approval rating was 56%.

Currently, the approval rating of President George W. Bush is estimated by a Newsweek poll to be around 31% as of November 9, 2006.<ref>President Bush - Overall Job Rating - PollingReport.com, November 9, 2006</ref>

[edit] Related concepts

There are several polling concepts related to an approval rating. A disapproval rating measures the number of people who disapprove of a politician, and is essentially the opposite of an approval rating. A net approval rating is the difference between an individual's approval and disapproval numbers. This number is especially useful with individuals who lack name recognition. A candidate which registers 50% undecided, and has a 30% approval versus a 20% disapproval could be judged to have a favorable net approval rating, even though 30% approval looks bad on its own.