A prediction

Patrick Egan, a political scientist at New York University, and Nathaniel Persily, a law professor at Columbia University, who together have studied public opinion on gay rights, believe that in five years a majority of Americans will favor same-sex marriage–the result of generational replacement and what Persily calls “attitude adjustment.”

Check this space in 2015; we’ll see what’s up.

3 thoughts on “A prediction

  1. That's an unfortunate phrasing isn't it. Perhaps they should have worded it as a majority of Americans will favor the legalization and acceptance of same-sex marriage. Unless they are predicting a pretty major change in American lifestyles and preferences.

  2. Hi Andrew,

    Should your readers be concerned that our prognostication arrived out of thin air (and I can see how Margaret Talbot's excellent New Yorker article might leave that impression), they may wish to see the piece Nate Persily and I wrote on the topic for pollingreport.com.

    We make the prediction in that piece, and it is based on an extrapolation from opinion trends that (with the exception of a big dip in support that occurred in the wake of Lawrence v. Texas) have been remarkably steady since polling began on same-sex marriage in the 1990s.

    And, yes, let's all revisit this half a decade from now!

    Pat Egan

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