Articles

Large majorities say big business, PACs, and lobbyists have too much influence

Research Report
Harris Interactive
March 17, 2008

Harris asks the public who has too much — or too little — power in U.S. politics

“When one thinks of Washington D.C. and the power corridors, smoke filled rooms and shady deals with lobbyists may come to mind. There are certain groups in particular which are singled out by large majorities of the American public as having too much power in those corridors. Leading the list are big companies, as 86 percent of Americans say they have too much power and influence in Washington. These are followed by Political Action Committees (PACs), which give money to political candidates; 83 percent of Americans cite them as having too much power and influence.

“Four in five Americans (80%) say political lobbyists have too much power, while almost three-quarters (74%) say the same about the news media. Rounding out the top five are entertainment and sports celebrities, as over two-thirds (69%) of Americans believe they have too much power and influence in D.C….

“Looking at this from the other side of the spectrum, 90 percent of Americans believe that small business has too little power and influence in Washington. Large majorities also believe public opinion (74%) and nonprofit organizations (65%) have too little power and influence….

“In addition to PACs and big companies, there are three other institutions which majorities of the public believe have too much power — TV and radio talk shows (57%), trade associations (57%) and labor unions (51%). Looking at the reverse side of the issue, just over half of the public believes racial minorities (51%) and churches and religious groups (52%) all have too little power and influence in Washington….

“There some interesting things to note when comparing this year to 1994, the first year The Harris Poll asked this question. First, PACs have seen a five point decrease in the number of people saying they have too much power. Perhaps this is a sign Americans perceive the legislative ethics and campaign finance changes as doing some good….

“Republicans, Democrats and Independents tend to agree on certain issues related to power and influence in Washington. Over 80 percent of all three groups believe that PACs have too much power and influence (83%, 84% and 89%, respectively). Furthermore, similar numbers of Republicans and Democrats believe TV and radio talk shows (55% and 59% respectively) and Trade associations (57% and 55% respectively) have too much power and influence….

“However, there are also some large differences. Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to believe that labor unions have too much power (65% vs. 39%). They are also more likely to think that racial minorities (43% vs. 23%), opinion polls (51% vs. 37%), and the news media (80% vs. 69%) have too much power.

“Democrats, on the other hand, are more likely than Republicans to only think two groups have too much power and influence — churches and religious organization (48% vs. 28%) and big companies (91% vs. 80%)….”

Article printed from Ethics Newsline: http://globalethics.org/newsline

Source: http://globalethics.org/newsline/2008/03/17/large-
majorities-say-big-business-pacs-and-lobbyists-have-too-much-
influence/

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