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Democracy Chronicles

A (Not So) Surprising Consensus

by Sean T. Stevens - March 13, 2012

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vote-bunny

by Sean Stevens

When we founded Democracy Chronicles, Adrian and I agreed on two broad goals.  The first, is to provide a place on the web for people  to find news on the progress of democracy and democratic rights throughout the world.  The second, is more narrow in its focus – on democracy in the United States (the country we live in).  While Adrian and I do not always see eye to eye on what social and political issues in the United States require the most immediate attention of the populace, we both view the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizen’s United lawsuit as flawed.

The decision paved the way for political Super PACs, and they have, seemingly, had a profound influence on the current Republican nomination battle.  Based on our observations of current political debates and our own intuitions we surmised that opposition to the influence of Super PACs on the electoral process would constitute something that would cut across party lines.  Such widespread opposition might constitute a possible arena for cooperation across party and ideological lines.  A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll provides us with some support for this conjecture.

Surprising Consensus: The poll asked respondents the following question:

“Organizations known as super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of candidates they support. (Supporters say this is a form of free speech) while (opponents say this allows groups or wealthy individuals to have unfair influence.) Do you think it should be legal or illegal for these super PACs to operate?”

The breakdown of responses is as follows:

  • 25% say Super PACs should be legal.
  • 69% say Super PACs should be illegal.
  • 6% report no opinion.
  • Additionally, 59% of “strong” Tea Party supporters say Super PACs should be illegal.

Of those who say Super PACs should be legal:

  • 9% report they strongly hold this opinion.
  • 16% report they somewhat strongly hold this opinion.

Of those who say Super PACs should be illegal:

  • 52% report they strongly hold this opinion.
  • 16% report they somewhat strongly hold this opinion.
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Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Money Politics

About Sean T. Stevens

Welcome to The Rabbit Hole, a blog that analyzes politics in the United States from an interdisciplinary perspective. Sean T. Stevens research focuses on how social attitudes and beliefs are assessed, how the psychological and societal foundations of morality relate to (and possibly somewhat determine) an individual’s political ideology, and how an individual’s political ideology influences their information-processing and decision making.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

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