obvote
General Social Survey https://gss.norc.org
Question 308. And one last question. We all know that American citizens have certain rights. For example, they have the right to free public education and to police protection, the right to attend religious services of their choice, and the right to elect public officials. I'd like to ask now about certain obligations that some people feel American citizens owe their country. I just want your own opinion on these - whether you feel it is a very important obligation, a somewhat important obligation, or not an obligation that a citizen owes to the country. a. First, to vote in elections.
For further details see the official GSS documentation.
Counts by year:
| year | iap | don't know | no answer | not obligation | somewhat important | very important | Total |
| 1972 | 1613 | - | - | - | - | - | 1613 |
| 1973 | 1504 | - | - | - | - | - | 1504 |
| 1974 | 1484 | - | - | - | - | - | 1484 |
| 1975 | 1490 | - | - | - | - | - | 1490 |
| 1976 | 1499 | - | - | - | - | - | 1499 |
| 1977 | 1530 | - | - | - | - | - | 1530 |
| 1978 | 1532 | - | - | - | - | - | 1532 |
| 1980 | 1468 | - | - | - | - | - | 1468 |
| 1982 | 1860 | - | - | - | - | - | 1860 |
| 1983 | 1599 | - | - | - | - | - | 1599 |
| 1984 | - | 4 | 22 | 66 | 229 | 1152 | 1473 |
| 1985 | 1534 | - | - | - | - | - | 1534 |
| 1986 | 1470 | - | - | - | - | - | 1470 |
| 1987 | 1819 | - | - | - | - | - | 1819 |
| 1988 | 1481 | - | - | - | - | - | 1481 |
| 1989 | 1537 | - | - | - | - | - | 1537 |
| 1990 | 1372 | - | - | - | - | - | 1372 |
| 1991 | 1517 | - | - | - | - | - | 1517 |
| 1993 | 1606 | - | - | - | - | - | 1606 |
| 1994 | 2992 | - | - | - | - | - | 2992 |
| 1996 | 2904 | - | - | - | - | - | 2904 |
| 1998 | 2832 | - | - | - | - | - | 2832 |
| 2000 | 2817 | - | - | - | - | - | 2817 |
| 2002 | 2765 | - | - | - | - | - | 2765 |
| 2004 | 2812 | - | - | - | - | - | 2812 |
| 2006 | 4510 | - | - | - | - | - | 4510 |
| 2008 | 2023 | - | - | - | - | - | 2023 |
| 2010 | 2044 | - | - | - | - | - | 2044 |
| 2012 | 1974 | - | - | - | - | - | 1974 |
| 2014 | 2538 | - | - | - | - | - | 2538 |
| 2016 | 2867 | - | - | - | - | - | 2867 |
| 2018 | 2348 | - | - | - | - | - | 2348 |
| 2021 | 4032 | - | - | - | - | - | 4032 |
| 2022 | 3544 | - | - | - | - | - | 3544 |
| Total | 70917 | 4 | 22 | 66 | 229 | 1152 | 72390 |
1 very important
2 somewhat important
3 not obligation
NA(d) don't know
NA(i) iap
NA(j) I don't have a job
NA(m) dk, na, iap
NA(n) no answer
NA(p) not imputable
NA(q) not imputable
NA(r) refused
NA(s) skipped on web
NA(u) uncodeable
NA(x) not available in this release
NA(y) not available in this year
NA(z) see codebook