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October 12, 2024 1191 replies
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South African Nobel Peace Prize winner statues Desmond Tutu, FW de Klerk, Nelson Mandela, Cape Town, 2015. Getty // Jeff Greenberg
Q1. The Nobel Peace Prize was established in 1901 by the will of Swedish industrialist and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.

The prize is awarded annually to people who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

Which best describes your opinion of the Nobel Peace Prize?
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+

Prestigious and important

41%
28%
54%
12%
32%
73%
11%
40%
45%
56%

Mix of prestige and hokum

26%
36%
15%
28%
39%
20%
56%
23%
20%
21%

Self-congratulatory hokum

19%
23%
16%
35%
16%
5%
11%
26%
20%
15%

None remotely describe my view

9%
7%
10%
16%
11%
1%
11%
6%
11%
7%

Don't know

1%
1%
1%
2%
1%
1%
0%
4%
0%

Don't care

3%
4%
2%
7%
2%
0%
10%
0%
4%
1%
Q2. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1856, and owned Bofors, an iron and steel producer that developed into a manufacturer of canons and other armaments.

Upon his death, Nobel donated $200m in today's dollars to a foundation to fund Nobel Prizes, which annually recognize those who "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind" in the five categories of peace, chemistry, physics, medicine, and literature. Economics was added in 1968. The cash award today to each prize is $1 million.

From among these options, which do you think best describes Alfred Nobel's contributions to mankind?
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+

Unequivocally good

17%
15%
19%
16%
14%
19%
1%
8%
23%
28%

Mostly good

42%
50%
35%
42%
43%
43%
46%
50%
38%
38%

Equally good and bad

19%
14%
23%
17%
28%
18%
18%
16%
19%
22%

Mostly bad

9%
6%
12%
4%
4%
15%
25%
9%
6%
4%

Unequivocally bad

2%
2%
2%
3%
2%
2%
0%
5%
2%
1%

None remotely describe it

3%
2%
3%
5%
3%
1%
0%
0%
5%
3%

Don't know

6%
8%
4%
11%
2%
3%
8%
11%
5%
2%

Don't care

2%
2%
2%
2%
4%
0%
1%
0%
2%
2%
Q3. The 2024 Peace Prize winner, announced Friday, is Nihon Hidankyo, a grass roots movement of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors. The Nobel committee cited it "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again."

Which from this list of Peace Prize winners do you think were worthy of the claim to have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses" at the time of their award?
(check all that apply)
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+

Nihon Hidankyo (2024)

41%
36%
46%
19%
43%
63%
61%
43%
36%
34%

European Union (2012)

20%
18%
22%
3%
12%
39%
35%
23%
15%
14%

Barack Obama (2009)

25%
16%
35%
0%
15%
53%
25%
24%
24%
30%

International Atomic Energy Agency (2005)

21%
25%
17%
8%
24%
33%
41%
21%
15%
17%

Jimmy Carter (2002)

40%
37%
44%
12%
41%
69%
51%
28%
40%
47%

United Nations (2001)

26%
21%
32%
4%
20%
50%
37%
30%
22%
21%

Doctors Without Borders (1999)

67%
64%
69%
53%
73%
79%
69%
59%
69%
71%

Intl Campaign to Ban Landmines (1997)

47%
45%
48%
32%
50%
60%
56%
48%
45%
42%

Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin (1994)

16%
14%
19%
7%
13%
26%
11%
21%
15%
14%

Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk (1993)

49%
43%
55%
30%
44%
68%
51%
45%
51%
48%

Mikhail Gorbachev (1990)

25%
30%
20%
22%
22%
28%
46%
17%
25%
21%

Dalai Lama (1989)

43%
37%
51%
33%
38%
54%
40%
46%
46%
38%

Elie Wiesel (1986)

30%
28%
33%
20%
27%
41%
22%
36%
28%
32%

Lech Walesa (1983)

24%
23%
26%
20%
20%
30%
11%
24%
26%
31%

Mother Teresa (1979)

52%
50%
55%
59%
42%
49%
60%
41%
56%
55%

Henry Kissinger (1973)

17%
16%
18%
23%
12%
13%
10%
17%
19%
20%

None of these

8%
10%
5%
13%
5%
3%
8%
11%
6%
4%

Don't care

6%
9%
3%
9%
6%
3%
3%
12%
5%
3%

In 2023, 40% considered Henry Kissinger an asset to the US, 32% a liability. 

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