Americans want more input: poll

Americans are fed up with national politics. That's old news, by at least four decades.

Back in 1978, Dr. George Gallup - former journalism professor and dairy farmer - wrote a Reader's Digest article entitled, "Six Political Reforms Most Americans Want." By then his Gallup Polls were long recognized and nationally respected for their accuracy and powers of prediction. Three of the six reforms a majority of Americans favored in the 1970s were congressional term limits, abolishing the Electoral College to elect the president based solely on popular vote, and campaign finance reform.

Recently the Gallup organization again tested the other three, finding half to two-thirds of Americans still in favor of popular referenda on key issues, shorter campaigns, and shorter primaries. As with prior polls on the same and similar issues, these opinions were notably nonpartisan, with a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents in favor; however Republicans were slightly more favorable.

Specifically, the July poll asked (in random order), "Would you vote for or against a law that would..."

1. Require a nationwide popular vote on any issue if enough voters signed a petition to request it? (68 percent for, 23 against, 9 "don't know") (In favor: 74 percent of Republicans polled, 69 - Democrats, 64 - Independents).

2. Shorten presidential campaigns to five weeks in September-October? (61 percent for, 33 against) (In favor: 62 percent of Republicans, 55 - Democrats, 66 - Independents)

3. Change the way presidential candidates are chosen by holding nationwide primaries on one day, instead of state-by-state over several months? (58 percent for, 33 against) (In favor: 69 percent of Republicans, 57 - Democrats and Independents). Note: The late George Gallup was a strong proponent of the nationwide primary.

For the party-curious, in previous polls on similar issues, Gallup found Republicans more supportive than were Democrats of term limits, and less supportive than Democrats of government-funded campaigns, with only minor party differences on campaign spending limits and abolishing the Electoral College.

Even the July poll was no one-shot deal.

According to Gallup, it has "retested public support for the reforms using slightly different question wording and format and found that half or more of Americans still favor each of them." In January, 75 percent of Americans were in favor of term limits and 63 percent wanted to abolish the Electoral College. In June, 79 percent supported limits on campaign spending and 50 percent wanted a publicly financed campaign system.

Age and education are also factors. Younger Americans are "much less supportive" of shortening the presidential campaign (18-29: 47 percent in favor; 30-49: 64 percent; 50 and older: 65 percent) and less likely to favor a national primary (18-29: 49 percent in favor; 30-49: 65 percent; 50 and older: 58-59 percent) than are older Americans. However, young adults were also found to be more positive about national issue referenda. College graduates (63 percent) were less in favor of national issue referenda than were non-graduates (71 percent).

What does all this mean? In short, American citizens have long been in favor of political reforms which would increase their direct influence and decrease that of political parties and interest groups. Americans want more influence on public policy, and have wanted it regardless of which parties or persons are in power. Occasionally members of Congress attempt reform, but strong opposition as well as the difficulties of constitutional amendment (e.g., electoral college) and other legal challenges have meant little success.

We could be more involved even with things as they are, but it takes work to read legislation, find politically neutral source documents, and evaluate issues independently (not simply repeating the assertions of pundits and party leaders). It takes time to attend public meetings and educate ourselves for an informed vote. Would we do that reliably? Would we thus make responsible decisions if we had more direct say? One may hope.

"Men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity." - Abraham Lincoln.

Sholeh Patrick, J.D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].