Posted by Jonathan Adler:
National Constitution Center Poll:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_13-2009_09_19.shtml#1253139292
The National Constitution Center [1]released the results of its annual
poll on public opinion about constitutional issues this week, and the
results are quite interesting. Here is how the NCC described the
results in a press release:
Americans oppose giving the federal government more power to
improve the economy, and strongly oppose government intervention in
private enterprise, according to a new poll on constitutional
issues released today by the National Constitution Center and the
Associated Press. The Center commissioned a similar poll in 2008,
and intends to poll annually to see how responses change over time.
The 2009 poll found that Americans strongly oppose allowing the
government to take partial ownership of private enterprise, even if
it would prevent them from going out of business (71%) or losing
jobs (66%), or if the failure of the industry would seriously harm
the economy (60%).
In addition, results were split as to whether health care was
something the government should ensure for all Americans.
In other findings, the poll shows that Americans generally have a
strong attachment to constitutional values and an overall
commitment to the ideals laid out in the Preamble of the
Constitution, including the separation of power, rule of law, and
protection of individual rights. In particular, 61% of Americans
believe the rule of law should be followed, even if it comes at the
expense of public safety. This result is up from 54% in 2008.
In addition, 75 percent of poll respondents agreed with the statement
that �The United States Constitution is an enduring document that
remains relevant today� (up from 70 percent in 2008); while only 23
percent indicated agreement with the alternative view that �The United
States Constitution is an outdated document that needs to be
modernized.� I also found it interesting that only 37 percent of
respondents agreed with the statement �If a majority of people want
something to happen, the rights of a few shouldn�t stand in the way,�
while 57 percent preferred �The rights of everyone should be
protected, even when that means saying no to something the majority of
people want to happen.� Further, 75 percent opposed the idea of
�giving the President more power at the expense of the power of
Congress and the courts� even if �it would help improve the economy.�
This is just one poll, and there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical
of the results. Nonetheless, I found it to be quite interesting. The
full poll toplines are available [2]here.
References
1. http://constitutioncenter.org/files/appollrelease.pdf
2.
http://surveys.ap.org/data%5CGfK%5CAP-GfK%20Poll%20Constitution%20Topline%20with%20trends%20final%20091109.pdf
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