Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The year 2016 marked twenty years since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) opened for signature; the twenty-fifth anniversary of the US nuclear-testing moratorium occurred the following year. The international political climate, nuclear-explosion-monitoring capabilities, and US stockpile stewardship have all changed drastically since the US Senate voted against CTBT ratification in 1999, and they continue to evolve. Yet the most recent public-opinion survey on the test ban, showing 84 percent approval across the United States, dates to 2012. Do Americans still emphatically support the CTBT? To answer this question, we worked with the research firm YouGov to design and implement a new scientific survey assessing the current state of national opinion toward the test ban. Analyzing the survey results shows that, although US public support for the test ban remains strong, it has probably weakened since 2012. While political party identification is the best predictor of treaty support or opposition, a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents support ratification. However, many Americans remain undecided on whether the Senate should provide its “advice and consent” to ratification.
Herzog et al. (Thu,) studied this question.