Public Opposes Expanding Presidential Power to Control Independent Agencies, Block Federal Spending, Replace Civil Servants
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Abstract
These are some of the findings of a new in-depth survey by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation (PPC), fielded March 4-7, 2025 with a representative sample of 1,249 adults nationwide.
“Though Americans have many frustrations with the federal government, the large majority of Americans do not seem to see giving Presidents more power as the answer,” commented Steven Kull, Director of PPC.
Respondents evaluated strongly stated arguments for and against expanding Presidential authority, over independent agencies and federal spending. The arguments against did better, especially those that focused on how centralizing more power in the Presidency risks corruption and politicization of essential government functions, and undermines the Constitution’s separation of powers. Large bipartisan majorities found those arguments convincing.
The arguments in favor of expanding Presidential authority – that doing so would better allow Presidents to fulfill their agenda, which the people voted for, and take power away from unaccountable – were found convincing by smaller and less bipartisan majorities.
Notes
Voice Of the People (VOP) is a nonpartisan organization working to re-anchor our democracy in its founding principles by giving ‘We the People’ a greater and more effective voice in government. VOP champions innovative methods and technology – notably online public consultations – that enable the American people to play a role in the policymaking process and provide policymakers with a more accurate understanding of the views of their constituents.
The Program for Public Consultation conducts policymaking simulations, which are an online process that puts citizens in the shoes of elected officials by simulating the process they go through in making policy decisions. Each simulation introduces a broader policy topic and then presents a series of modules that address a specific policy option that is currently under consideration in the current discourse.
For each module, respondents: receive a short briefing on a policy issue and the option or options for addressing it; evaluate arguments for and against the policy options; and finally, make their recommendation for what their elected officials should do.