Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA)
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Item Overwhelming Bipartisan Majorities Favor Greater Restrictions on Lobbying by Former Government Officials(2017-12) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Lewitus, Evan Charles; Martens, FrancescaOverwhelming bipartisan majorities support proposed legislation that calls for extending the period that former government officials must wait before they can lobby the government and prohibiting former executive branch officials from ever lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. Similarly, large majorities favor ending the support the government currently provides for former US Presidents. Currently, former Members of Congress are prohibited from lobbying Congress for two years after leaving office. Proposed legislation H.R. 383 by Rep. Posey [R-FL-8], H.R. 796 by Rep. DeSantis [R-FL-6], H.R. 1951 by Rep. O’Halleran [D-AZ-1] and H.R. 346 by Rep. Trott [R-MI-11] calls for extending this period to five years. In the survey, 77 percent approved of such an extension, including 80% of Republicans and 73% of Democrats.Item Overwhelming Bi-Partisan Majority Opposes Allowing Churches, Other Nonprofits, to Engage in Political Activity(2017-11-28) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Martens, Francesca; Lewitus, Evan CharlesAn overwhelming majority of 79% voters oppose the proposal to allow churches and other non-profit organizations to endorse political candidates and provide them money and other support. This includes 71% of Republicans as well as 88% of Democrats and 78% on independents. Most (55%) say it is ‘very important’ to keep the current law. The proposal to reverse the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits political activity by tax-exempt organizations, is in the House tax reform bill and in other proposed legislation, including H.R. 172, H.R. 781, and S. 264.Item Public Supports Reforming How Members of Congress are Elected(2018-04) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Lewitus, Evan Charles; Martens, FrancescaMajorities of voters support a number of bold reforms to change how members of Congress are elected, including having congressional districts drawn by independent citizen commissions, and adopting ranked choice voting and multi-member districts, according to a new, in-depth survey from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation. These three reforms comprise new legislation – The Fair Representation Act – sponsored by Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and cosponsored by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md). The highest level of support was for changing the way that House congressional districts are designed—a prominent issue now that the Supreme Court is considering whether the federal government should prevent state legislatures from designing congressional districts to the benefit of the dominant party, popularly known as gerrymandering.Item Six in Ten Oppose Legislation to Delay Lowering Ground Ozone Levels(2018-04) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Lewitus, Evan Charles; Martens, FrancescaA new survey finds that six in ten voters oppose proposed Congressional legislation that postpones, for eight years, current requirements to lower ground ozone levels. Such ozone contributes to the creation of smog and is harmful to humans, but lowering ozone levels incurs economic costs. The legislation, H.R 806 Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017, passed the US House on July 18,2017 and is now pending in the Senate.Item Americans Evaluate Campaign Finance Reform(2018-05) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Martens, Francesca; Lewitus, Evan CharlesA major study of voters’ views of campaign finance finds that large majorities support numerous bills in Congress that seek to reduce or offset the influence of big campaign donors. These include bills that call for a Constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision, increasing disclosure requirements for campaign donations, and promoting more small campaign donations. The questionnaire includes findings on a Constitutional Amendment to limit the terms of Congressional Representatives though they were not referenced explicitly in the report.Item Overwhelming Bipartisan Majorities Support Bill Giving Judges Discretion to Moderate Prison Sentencing(2018-08) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Lewitus, Evan CharlesA new survey finds overwhelming bipartisan support for provisions in a bill that would give judges greater discretion to ease prison sentencing, sponsored by U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). Some provisions were also contained in the House-passed First Step Act. Both pieces of legislation would roll back mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses that were set in the 1990s in response to a surge in crime, which has since abated. Such mandatory minimums played a key role in the more than doubling of the rates of incarceration that occurred in the subsequent decades. Proponents of the bill argue that this level of incarceration was an over-reaction that should be moderated, while opponents of the bill credit the high levels of incarceration with the reduction in crime.Item To Regulate Immigration, Only 4 in 10 Favor Building a Wall, While 7 in 10 Favor Requiring Employers to Use E-Verify System, More Guest Worker Visas(2019-01) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Lewitus, Evan; Read, EmmalyAn in-depth survey finds that, to discourage illegal immigration, only 4 in 10 favor building a wall, rather a bipartisan majority of 72% favor requiring employers to use the E-Verify system to ensure that the people they hire have the legal right to work in the United States. At the same time, to meet demands for labor 69% favor substantially increasing guest worker visas. To ensure that respondents understood the issue, they were given a short briefing on the US immigration program and a number of possible reforms in proposed Congressional legislation. For the current programs that provide green cards to family members of citizens and permanent residents, large bipartisan majorities oppose eliminating any of the programs, and overall majorities opposed reducing their current numbers. However, majorities of Republicans favor reducing the number of green cards granted in these programs.