Aspen ideas poll 7 9-10

Aspen Ideas Festival“Does the US Constitution Still Work for 21st Century America?”
July 9, 2010
©Penn, schoen & berland associates, llc.

Methodology
1
Between June 18 and June 22, 2010, PSB conducted 1000 online interviews with GP Americans.
Between June 30 and July 5, PSB conducted an additional 500 online interviews with GP Americans to gain insight on supplemental questions.
The following audiences are shown throughout this report:
Gender
Male (M)
Female (F)
Region
Northeast (NE)
Midwest (MW)
South (S)
West (W)
Political Affiliation
Democrat (Strong or weak) (D)
Republican (Strong or weak) (R)
Independent (I)
Income
Less than $75k annual household income (<$75k)
More than $75k annual household income (>$75k)
The margin of error is +/-3.1% for the first fielding, +/-4.4 for the re-field.
CONFIDENTIAL

Table of contents
2
This presentation outlines America’s attitudes towards the following:
1
2
3
4

Four Clear Trends To Watch
3
1
The American people are solidly behind the basic principles of the Constitution
2
But they are divided on its interpretation
3
Are deeply frustrated with its current implementation
4
And want changes that give the people more power

Fundamental Attitudes about the Constitution
4
Americans say that the Constitution is a timeless document and should be changed minimally.
Most say the Constitution is still effective today, more than 200 years after it was written, but are split as to whether the Constitution should be interpreted broadly or literally.

The constitution is still effective and should be changed minimally
5
The Constitution…
Is timeless and should be changed minimally
Is still effective today
Is no longer as effective as it was when it was written
Needs significant updates
Although, approximately one-third say the Constitution needs significant updates and is no longer as effective as it was when it was written.

Americans are open to broad interpretation of the constitution
Women and Democrats are more likely to be open to broad interpretations while men and Republicans more likely to be strict constructionists.
6
Which of the following is closest to your view?

Most Americans say that the system of checks and balances works well
Across all subgroups, a majority of Americans support the system of checks and balances among the branches of government and say it is effective in preventing any single branch from having too much power.
7
Checks and balances works well(because it prevents any one branch from having too much power )
Checks and balances does not work well(because it inhibits too much the government’s ability to get anything done)

Only one quarter of Americans say the press has too much freedom
8
Do you think there is too much or too little freedom of the press?

Attitudes about constitutional rights
9
Rights for All
Rights for Some

Americans say Freedom of Speech is the most important right the constitution guarantees
You will now see the rights that are currently protected by the Constitution. Using your mouse, please arrange the individual rights from right to left in terms of which is most important.
Right to trial by jury
Right to “plead the 5th”
Right to vote
Freedom of speech
(85)
Freedom of assembly
No unauthorized arrests
(55)
Freedom of religion
Right to bear arms
Least important right
Most important right
0
100
No cruel or unusual punishment
Freedom of the press
10

Majority agree Constitution should protect more rights
11
The Constitution should protect more rights
The Constitution should protect fewer rights

Americans’ attitudes on rights that should be guaranteed
12
Which of the following rights do you think the U.S. Constitution should guarantee, if any?
multiple responses permitted

Americans are Split over whether the Constitution protects everyone equally
Men and Republicans are more likely to say that the Constitution protects everyone, while women and Democrats are more likely to say that it protects some more than others.
13

Americans divided over civil liberties vs. national security
14
Protecting national security is more important than civil liberties
44%
Civil liberties are more important than protecting national security.
39%

More than half see circumstances where the police could violate civil liberties to protect national security
15

Americans question extending citizens’ rights to corporations, criminals, and terrorists
16
How much do you agree with the following statement: “____ should have the same rights as citizens guaranteed by the Constitution.”
Corporations
Should the judicial system treat terrorists differently than criminals?

Despite satisfaction with the Constitution, only 25% of Americans are satisfied with the way the government functions today
Nearly 70% of Americans say that the Government today is functioning WORSE than intended.
Attitudes about the current system of government
17
By 2 to 1, Americans agree that the system works best when the Executive and Legislative branches are controlled by different parties, and the majority of Americans would like to see more bipartisanship (58%).

Only 25% of Americans satisfied with the way government functions today
18
25%
71%
Dissatisfied with the way the federal government functions
How satisfied are you with the way the federal government functions today?
Satisfied with the way the federal government functions

Majority say that government today does not work as well as the framers intended
19
Do you think that the U.S. government today is working better than, worse than, or as well as the framers of the constitution intended?

By 2 to 1, Americans prefer divided government
20
72% of Republicans prefer different parties
44% of Democrats prefer one-party controlling both branches

Americans would like to see more bi-partisanship and collaboration
21
Do you think there is too much or too little collaboration between political parties?

Majority say all branches of government should be equal
22
Thinking of the three branches of government, which branch do you feel should have the most power?
They should all be equal

legislative branch is perceived to have biggest impact on daily life
Across all subgroups, a plurality of Americans say that Congress has the biggest impact on their daily lives, while close to 1 in 5 say they don’t know.
23
Which branch of the government has the largest impact on your daily life?
Don’t know

What Americans are open to changing
To fix the current governmental system, Americans are open to some changes in the Constitution, particularly in the judicial branch.
24
The Executive Branch
The Legislative Branch
The Judicial Branch
State Representation
Americans are open to electing the President through a direct vote and imposing a mandatory retirement age, but do not want to change citizenship requirements.
Americans are open to extending term lengths, but will not change age requirements or impose a mandatory retirement age.
Americans would like to elect Supreme Court Justices directly, impose a mandatory retirement age, and limit the amount of time that justices can serve.
Americans are open to granting equal representation to the District of Columbia and to granting states with larger populations MORE representation in the U.S. Senate.

Americans Are somewhat open to changes in the executive branch
25
Open to Changing
Not Open to Changing
Change the current system
Maintain the current system
*Re-field data collected between June 30-July 5, 2010

Americans are open to some changes for the Legislative Branch
26
Open to Changing

Americans are most open to changing the judicial branch
27
Open to Changing

Majority says justices should be elected
Men are split on this issue while women strongly favor electing judges over having them appointed.
28
Do you believe that Supreme Court justices should be...?*

Americans are open to making changes in the system of representation
29
Open to Changing

Americans support constitutional changes by popular referenda
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to favor utilizing popular referenda to amend the Constitution.
30
Would you favor or oppose being able to change the Constitution by popular referenda, where citizens can propose changes and then the entire country would vote on the issue by popular vote?
49
41

Roadmap of Constitutional changes
Americans are open to making at least a few changes to all branches of government
31
Limit justices’ term in office (66%)*
Most willing to change
States with a larger pop. should have more reps (40%)
Mandatory retirement age for the Congress (66%)
Extend house terms to four years (40%)*
DC should have representation (49%)
Mandatory retirement age for the President (51%)
Mandatory retirement age for justices (69%)*
Supreme Court Justices should be elected (51%)
Abolish the electoral college (74%)*
Do away with the filibuster (53%)*
Allow President to serve a 3rdnon-consecutive term (42%)*
Least willing to change

In Sum, Four Clear Trends To Watch
32
1
The American people are solidly behind the basic principles of the Constitution
2
But they are divided on its interpretation
3
Are deeply frustrated with its current implementation
4
And want changes that give the people more power

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Aspen ideas poll 7 9-10

by Penn Schoen Berland on Jul 09, 2010

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Aspen ideas poll 7 9-10 — Presentation Transcript