1. But we decide which is right.

2. And which is an illusion?

3. The Moody Blues (1967)

Opponents of evolution have claimed for nearly a century that public opinion is on their side. The proponents of the nation's first anti-evolution laws in the 1920s were confident that these laws would be popular with voters and reflected majority sentiment. In the latter half of the twentieth century, state legislators and school board members could also claim citizen support for policies that mandated “balanced treatment” for evolution and creationism and, later, that mandated the teaching of intelligent design or curricula that emphasized “gaps” in the theory of evolution. As we noted in Chapter 1, both populists like Bryan and strict constructivists like Scalia have made strong normative cases for following the wishes of the majority, even against the strong objections of scientific or pedagogical experts. Thus, it is essential to understand the policy preferences of ordinary citizens.

In this chapter, we marshal evidence from more than a quarter century of surveys of the American public concerning evolution. We will begin with the public's policy preferences – what Americans say that they want taught in public schools. This review will show that the majority of Americans favor teaching students a biblical perspective on the origins of life on earth. For most, creationism should be taught alongside evolutionary biology – what many refer to as “balanced treatment.” However, a fairly sizable minority say they want biblical perspectives to supplant scientific treatments of the origin of species.