Newswise — WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 -- Today, the GW Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) Society of Presidential Pollsters Founder Mark Penn, in conversation with Christopher Arterton, professor emeritus and founding dean of the GW Graduate School of Political Management, will reveal the results of the latest "American Government in the 21st Century" annual survey, which takes a pulse of the American people on a wide range of issues related to how elected officials and public institutions are serving them. The complete survey results can be found here.

"Americans continue to desire bipartisanship from their institutions but feel they are not getting it," said Penn. "There's an appreciation that this country is built on compromise, but politicians are falling short on the demand for bipartisanship."

Confidence in federal government returns to levels from early Biden years

  • 48% of voters say the presidency is working as an institution, up 7 points from last year (2024: 48%; 2023: 41%; 2022: 50%; 2021: 53%).
  • 39% of voters say Congress is working as an institution, up 7 points from last year (2024: 39%; 2023: 32%; 2022: 41%; 2021: 40%).
  • Confidence in the Supreme Court remains largely unchanged, with 53% who say it is working as an institution.
  • 63% of Democrats believe the President is most effective at doing their job, while 58% of Republicans and 44% of Independents, believe the Supreme Court is most effective.

Most voters prefer bipartisanship but do not see it in today's institutions

  • 70% of voters believe bipartisan support is critical for major policy changes, but 82% characterize the bipartisan system of governing right now as broken.
  • The majority of voters believe the branches are becoming more politicized and that their representatives across all levels of government and judges prioritize political party interests over the national interest.
  • 87% of voters believe U.S. politics has become too much about fighting and 77% say differences between the two parties have become so great that bipartisanship on big issues is no longer possible, even though over 3 in 4 voters prefer bipartisan compromise over gridlock or single party control of the government.

Voters demand more information and transparency from campaigns

  • A plurality of voters agree that the presidential campaigns have done too little to inform voters about their positions on the issues (Harris: 44%; Trump: 39%).
  • A majority of voters approve of measures to improve information and financial transparency from presidential campaigns, including 86% who say policy papers should be required, 83% who are in favor of financial spending disclosures, and 82% who want three presidential debates.

Strong support for First Amendment protections across all platforms

  • 81% of voters say we need to strengthen the First Amendment's provision for freedom of speech and the press.
  • More than half of voters believe First Amendment rights should apply to social media and Big Tech platforms.
  • 54% of voters believe it is inappropriate for the government to delineate misinformation when it comes to social media, and 57% believe the same for news media organizations.
  • 70% of voters, and a majority across the political spectrum, perceive Big Tech companies as politically biased in their actions.

Voters generally satisfied with amount of power institutions hold right now

  • 64% of voters say the President should have the same amount of power as they do now, regardless of who is in office, a 12-point increase from last year. In 2023, nearly one-third of voters believed the President should hold less power.
  • The majority of voters would keep the power of Congress, the Supreme Court, and other key federal agencies the same.
  • 47% of voters say the federal government's power should be the same as now. 14% say it should have more power, down 7 points from 2023.

The event will be held from 5:30 – 8:30 PM EDT today on the Hall of the States rooftop. If you would like to attend, please RSVP here.

The George Washington University established the Society of Presidential Pollsters in 2010. The Society acts as a membership organization for the select group of people who have served as public opinion advisors to the President of the United States. The Society aims to collect and preserve records of the polling conducted on behalf of the White House over the last eight decades.

HarrisX, on behalf of the Society of Presidential Pollsters, conducted the survey online between Sept. 14 – 16, 2024 among 1,505 registered voters who were randomly recruited to participate in it. Results were weighted for age within gender, region, race or ethnicity, income, education, political party, and political ideology where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. The margin for error was +/- 2.5%.

-GW-