


These are some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,455 adults surveyed online between November 7 and 13, 2007 by Harris Interactive®. This survey focused on 16 organizations that have considerable influence on public policy, business and are frequently covered by the media.
Familiarity
The first question asked the public how familiar they are with these 16 organizations. The organizations that are familiar to the largest number of people are:
o The American Red Cross 96%
o Consumer Reports 86%
o The AARP 85%
o The National Rifle Association (NRA) 83%
o The U.S. Chamber of Commerce 79%
The organizations on the list that the fewest people are familiar with are:
o The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) 12%
o The Brookings Institution 22%
o The Environmental Defense Fund 24%
o Moveon.org 30%
o The Heritage Foundation 33%
o National Association of Home Builders 39%
Trust
Among those who are familiar with them the most trusted organizations (based on those who trust them "a great deal" or "a fair amount") are:
o Consumer Reports 91%
o The American Red Cross 86%
o AARP 83%
o The Nature Conservancy 83%
o The U.S. Chamber of Commerce 73%
The least trusted organizations on the list are:
o Moveon.org 45%
o The American Enterprise Institute 48%
o The ACLU 50%
o The NRA 52%
o The AFL-CIO 52%
It is noteworthy that all of these five organizations take strong and often controversial positions on political issues.
Power in Washington
The organizations listed that are believed to have the most power, based on the number of people who are thought to have "a "great deal" or "a fair amount" of power (as percentages of those who are familiar with them) are:
o The AFL-CIO 84%
o The N.R.A. 83%
o The U.S. Chamber of Commerce 81%
o The ACLU 81%
o The Brookings Institute 78%
o The American Enterprise Institute 77%
The organizations thought to have the least power are:
o Greenpeace 45%
o The Nature Conservancy 45%
o Consumer Reports 48%
o Moveon.org 50%
o The Sierra Club 54%
It is interesting that three of these are environmental organizations.
So What?
There is a big difference between the organizations that are most trusted and those that are believed to be the most powerful. However some well trusted organizations are also seen as having power in Washington; specifically, the American Red Cross, the AARP, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. On the other hand three organizations that are not highly trusted are widely perceived to be powerful - the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the AFL-CIO and the NRA.
(harrisinteractive.com)