Snap Polls

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With the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Teaching, Research, & International Policy (TRIP) Project issues regular “snap polls” as international events unfold in order to provide policymakers and the public with real-time information on the views of international relations (IR) experts. TRIP Snap Polls of IR scholars survey all individuals employed at a U.S. university in a political science department or policy school who teach or conduct research on issues that cross international borders. TRIP Public Opinion Snap Polls of the American public were conducted in parallel with TRIP Snap Polls of IR scholars in order to understand how expert opinion on international politics and policy issues differs from that of the public.

The IR Scholar Sample

TRIP Snap Polls survey all IR scholars in the United States. To be included in our sample, individuals must be employed at a U.S. college or university in a political science department or professional school and teach or conduct research on issues that cross international borders. To date we have identified 4,614 individuals who fit these criteria. These short surveys each consist of around ten questions about key international events and provide timely data on contemporary foreign policy issues to media outlets, policymakers, practitioners, and students of international relations. One important purpose of the snap polls is to measure and then distribute information on the opinions of IR experts in real time so that these views are part of the public discourse on international and foreign policy issues.

Fall 2020 Snap Poll XIV: How Biden and Trump Differ on Foreign-Policy

Snap Poll XIV Full Report | Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Press Release | Interact with the Data
The poll was open from September 17 to September 24 of 2020. Of the 4,983 scholars across the United States that we contacted, 706 responded to at least one question. The resulting response rate is approximately 14.2 percent.

Spring 2020 Snap Poll XIII: COVID-19 and the 2020 Presidential Election

Snap Poll XIII Full Report | Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data
The poll was open April 27 through May 4 2020. Of the 4,614 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 982 responded to at least one question. The resulting response rate is approximately 21.28 percent.

Winter 2019-2020 Snap Poll XII: The 2020 Primary, Impeachment, and Trump's Foreign Policy

Snap Poll XII Full Report | The Washington Post's Monkey Cage | Interact with the Data
The poll was open 10/30/2019-12/14/2019. Of the 4,752 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 971 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 20.43 percent You can access our snap poll report here.

October 2018 Snap Poll XI: What Experts Make of Trump's Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data
The poll was open October 23 - 27, 2018. Of the 4,884 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 1,157 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 23.68 percent. You can access a summary of the representativeness of this poll here.

Winter 2017 Snap Poll X (Embedded in the Faculty Survey): JCPOA and Trump Foreign Policy

The Washington Post's Monkey Cage | Interact with the Data
The survey was open October through November 2017. Of the 4,849 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 1,541 responded to at least one question of the survey. The resulting response rate is approximately 31.71 percent.

October 2016 Snap Poll IX: U.S. Foreign Policy and the 2016 Presidential Election

The Washington Post's Monkey Cage | Interact with the Data
The poll was open October 5 - 9, 2016. Of the 4,078 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 744 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 18 percent.

February 2016 Snap Poll VIII: IR Scholars React to 2016 Presidential Campaign, Terrorism and the Middle East, and Zika

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data
The poll was open February 9 - 11, 2016. Of the 4,078 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 701 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 17 percent, and the margin of error for the poll is +/-3.37 percent.

September 2015 Snap Poll VII: IR Scholars React to South China Sea, Refugee Crisis, and Iran Deal

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data
The poll was open September 28 - 30, 2015. Of the 4,086 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 694 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 17 percent, and the margin of error for the poll is +/-3.39 percent.

June 2015 Snap Poll VI: IR Scholars React to Greece, Migration Crisis, Trade Agreements, and FIFA

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data | Snap Poll Full Report
The poll was open May 31- June 2, 2015. Of the 4,094 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 655 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 16 percent, and the margin of error for the poll is +/-3.51 percent.

April 2015 Snap Poll V: IR Scholars React to Proposed Nuclear Agreement with Iran

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data | Snap Poll Full Report
The poll was open April 6-7, 2015. Of the 4,169 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 921 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 22 percent, and the margin of error for the poll is +/-2.85 percent.

March 2015 Snap Poll IV: Ten Questions on Current Global Issues for IR Scholars

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data | Snap Poll Full Report
The poll was open March 9-10, 2015. Of the 4,185 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 1,054 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 25 percent, and the margin of error for the poll is +/-2.6 percent.

January 2015 Snap Poll III: Seven Questions on Current Global Issues for IR Scholars

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data | Snap Poll Full Report
Of the 4,185 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 1,395 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 33 percent, and the margin of error for the poll is +/-2.14 percent.

May 2014 Snap Poll II: Ukraine, Energy and the Middle East

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data | Snap Poll Full Report
Of the 2,882 scholars across the U.S. that we contacted, 950 responded. The resulting response rate is approximately 33 percent, and the margin of error for the poll is +/-2.6 percent.

March 2014 Snap Poll I: Syria, Ukraine and the U.S. Defense Budget

Foreign Policy Snap Poll Coverage | Interact with the Data | Snap Poll Full Report
Our first snap poll was sent to 2,805 IR scholars and received 908 responses, a response rate of approximately 30 percent. The margin of error for the poll is +/-2.7 percent. This poll featured nine questions on a variety of issues, including the emerging crisis in Ukraine, Syria’s chemical weapons and U.S. defense spending.

Public Opinion Snap Polls

WIPPO Snap Polls of the public were conducted in parallel with TRIP Snap Polls of IR scholars in order to understand how expert opinion on international politics and policy issues differs from that of the public. With support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, we fielded TRIP/WIPPO Snap Polls several times in 2015 and 2016. Our polls provide real-time data in the wake of significant policy proposals, during international crises, and on emerging foreign policy debates. In this series of polls, we asked about support for military use of force, negotiations between Iran and the P5+1, Greece and the future of the Euro, international migration, FIFA, and free-trade agreements.

July 2015 Wisconsin International Policy and Public Opinion (WIPPO) Snap Poll I: How the U.S. Public and U.S.-based IR Scholars Compare on Iran Nuclear Agreement, Use of Force, Migration Crisis, Greece, Trade Agreements, and FIFA

Download Snap Poll Full Report (with Methodology)
The WIPPO public opinion poll, surveyed 1,000 American citizens from an existing panel provided by Qualtrics. The poll was open June 9, 2014 to June 18, 2015. The margin of error is approximately +/-3.1 percent.