New surveys in battleground states and districts across the country, as well as nationwide, find that Americans—both Republicans and Democrats—believe Congress does what most Americans would do less than half the time.
They also found that majorities agree that if Congress were to be more influenced by the people, it would be more likely to find common ground. In fact, surveys show that majorities of Republicans and Democrats agree on what to do about many issues that Congress is stuck on.
These findings come from surveys conducted by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC) to nearly 20,000 adults in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive congressional districts, from May 27th to June 25th, as part of its Common Ground in the Battlegrounds? survey series. A national survey was also conducted from March 11-19 with 1,200 respondents.
Americans were asked to estimate what percentage of the time elected federal officials make the same decisions as the majority of Americans. Bipartisan majorities in every battleground surveyed and nationally say less than 50%. On average across the battlegrounds, the estimate is just 35%, with little difference between Democrats and Republicans (35% and 38%, respectively).
As research has shown, Americans are correct: Congress is out of step with public opinion on many policy issues. In particular, Congress is not passing laws that are supported by large majorities of Americans.
While Americans do not think that Congress should follow public opinion robotically, they think the people should have substantial influence. Presented with a scenario in which the majority of a Congressperson’s constituents agree on what should be done about a policy issue, and asked how much influence that opinion should have on a 0-10 scale, the mean response was not 10. But it was a robust 7.6.
Perhaps most significantly, over eight in ten say that if the people had more influence, Congress would be more likely to find common ground. In other words, they believe polarization in Congress is not a mirror of the people; polarization comes from the top, not the bottom.
But is the public right?
Surveys by PPC and others have consistently found that the public is correct. Across dozens of issues on which Congress has been unable to reach agreement, bipartisan majorities in the public actually converge. This is true nationally, and in PPC’s current study in the battlegrounds, which has found dozens of policies in numerous areas supported by clear majorities of Republicans and Democrats.
And Americans want their voice to be heard. Asked how often news pieces about a policy issue should include relevant public opinion data (when there is reliable data), over two-thirds of both Democrats and Republicans in every battleground say always or most of the time. Over six in ten say that if Congress is about to vote on a law, it is very or extremely important for news outlets to report on whether a majority of Americans favor or oppose that law.
The public’s desire to be heard is not new. The findings have remained the same, no matter which party is in power. And there are good reasons to believe that if the public’s views were more prominent in the public discourse – in Congress and the new media – this would have a stabilizing and unifying effect on our politics.
Dr. Steven Kull is Director and Evan Charles Lewitus is Associate Director of the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland.
