Survey: the electorate wants solutions to resolve government corruption

A new survey conducted by Brennan Heart reveals that a large majority of Republican, Democratic and independent voters share a deep concern about government corruptiona concept that the majority of voters clarify in general terms and to which they blame many of the country’s most serious problems remaining unresolved.

The survey, conducted among 2,000 registered voters nationwide between April 28 and May 6, also finds there is strong public support for key anti-corruption reforms, such as incorporating new limits on monetary contributions in elections and stronger protections against insider profiteering by top government officials.

Some of our main findings are the following:

Voters see corruption as a serious problem that exists in all government institutions. More than 9 in 10 voters (92 percent) believe corruption is a big problem in politics and government, and an overwhelming majority view the last two presidents, Congress, and the Supreme Court as corrupt institutions.

Voters define corruption broadly. Majorities see corruption as encompassing a wide range of behavior, such as officials using their office for personal gain (97 percent), prioritizing the interests of billionaires and large corporations over those of the public (94 percent), wasting our tax dollars (90 percent), and failing to respond to the needs of their constituents (76 percent).

Voters identify several causes of corruption among elected officials. They point out that the main causes of corruption are the lack of consequences after corrupt behavior (seventy nine percent), the fact that officials prioritize their economic benefit inside most (seventy nine percent), and the contributions to electoral campaigns made by billionaires (64 percent) and large corporations (62 percent).

Voters say corruption is to blame for many everyday problems remaining unresolved. An impressive majority believes that corruption is responsible for some of the major problems that the government has failed to solve for years (88 percent) and for the dysfunction of public administration (83 percent).

Voters demand profound reforms. The main policies proposed to combat corruption have widespread support, beyond different political ideologies. Some of the most favored reforms are a constitutional amendment to restore limits on monetary contributions in elections (seventy-nine percent), mandatory disclosure of all campaign contributions and expenditures during federal elections (85 percent), the creation of a new entity to regulate and enforce ethics rules for the federal government (81 percent), and a constitutional amendment to restrict the president’s power to grant pardons (69 percent).

The electorate sees corruption as a serious systemic problem

With this broad definition in mind, a huge portion of the electorate perceives corruption as a systemic and widespread problem. The survey indicates that 92 percent of voters consider corruption to be a serious problem in American politics and government, and 62 percent classify it as a very serious problem. 93 percent express a fair amount or a lot of concern about the influence that corruption exerts on elected officials.

Voters see corruption as an endemic problem in the US government. When asked whether they believe corruption is a personal practice or a deep-rooted structural problem, nearly two-thirds said it is a structural problem. More than half of those surveyed (55 percent) said that the process of standing for election and then holding a position in government is what makes officials corrupt, while forty-five percent think that people who stand for election or hold political office already tend to be corrupt.

The electorate classified the main institutions of the federal government as corruptamong them, Congress (85 percent), the president (68 percent), the cabinet (81 percent) and the Supreme Court (62 percent). With respect to Congress, those findings were largely consistent across all demographic categories surveyed: political party, race, educational level, income level, age, urban/suburban/rural, and geographic region.

The electorate clarifies corruption in broad terms

The electorate has a broad perspective on what it considers corruption in government, partly based on the perception that the government works primarily for the ultra-wealthy and influential classes and does not prioritize the interests of the common electorate.

The survey shows that while 97 percent of voters consider any government official who uses their position for personal gain to be corrupt, almost the same proportion (89 percent) believe it is also a corrupt practice when the interests of billionaires and large corporations are served above those of the public in general.

A large part of the electorate of all political stripes also associate corruption with the ineffectiveness and inaccessibility of the government. Ninety percent say that when their tax dollars are spent on programs that do not appear to benefit the people, that is also considered corruption, and seventy-nine percent say that another example of corruption is when Congress does not focus on problems that affect the people.

The electorate agrees that corruption has many causes

Typically, voters of all political ideologies say corruption is caused by the lack of consequences for corrupt behavior (seventy-nine percent) and by the fact that elected officials prioritize their profits above all (seventy-nine percent). Added closely to these causes, and again regardless of political ideology, are the contributions to electoral campaigns made by large corporations and billionaires, with 62 and 64 percent of the responses, respectively.

The electorate believes that corruption has serious consequences in their daily lives

Voters associate corruption directly with their daily problems and with the difficulties they face daily when dealing with the government. 88 percent say that corruption is responsible for the persistence of the most serious current problems that the government cannot solve, and 83 percent indicate that corruption is the cause of public services not functioning as they should.

89 percent of the electorate – an overwhelming majority of Democrats, Republicans and independents – believe that corruption is to blame for policies that benefit billionaires and large corporations at the expense of the American people.

The people, beyond political ideologies, demand a change

The electorate’s perception of widespread corruption and its consequences in their daily lives translates into a strong request for solutions. Each of the reforms included in this survey received nearly or more than 70 percent support, and those majorities remained constant across ideological differences.

In fact, most of the proposals gathered the support of the supermajority of each political party and also among independent people. Additionally, widespread support extended across other demographic categories, such as race, age, gender, educational level, and geographic region. Even among the small minority of voters (8 percent) who do not consider corruption a major problem, almost all anti-corruption policy proposals received majority support.

An overwhelming majority of voters across all political parties support campaign finance reforms. These include laws to end anonymous donations, that is, funds financed by groups that do not disclose the identity of their donors (85 percent in full, with 88 percent of Democrats and 85 percent of Republicans), and a constitutional amendment to overturn Supreme Court rulings that have struck down limits on money contributions in elections (seventy nine percent in full, with 84 percent of Democrats, 81 percent of independents and 75 percent of Republicans).

The supermajority of voters surveyed in all regions of the country supports the initiative to amend the Constitution to restore limits on the financing of political campaigns, with the support of more than three-quarters of the electorate in the West (82 percent), South (78 percent), Northeast (81 percent) and Midwest of the country (76 percent). The same uniformity of support was seen in urban (81 percent), suburban (seventy-nine percent), and rural (76 percent) areas.

The electorate also supports the implementation of important reforms to curb internal profiteering at the highest levels of government. For example, voters of all political affiliations want to strengthen federal ethics laws for all three branches of government.

This includes prohibiting conflicts of interest for the president (83 percent), requiring the Supreme Court to adopt a mandatory code of ethics (84 percent), prohibiting the buying and selling of stock by members of Congress (81 percent), creating a new federal agency to enforce anti-corruption laws (81 percent), and approving a constitutional amendment to limit the president’s unilateral power to grant pardons (69 percent).

At least 70 percent of the young electorate (aged 18 to 34) supports reforms that seek to address government abuse of power for corrupt purposes. These solutions are also supported by large majorities in all other age groups, with voters 65 and older demonstrating the highest level of support.

The Brennan Heart poll shows that the public views corruption as a serious problem that exists in all areas of government. It also offers a ray of hope: the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their political affiliation, support the implementation of solutions that address the role of wealth concentration in politics and the unchecked internal enrichment of those in power, in order to restore the government’s ability to serve citizens and restore trust in institutions.

Alex Brunet evaluate affiliate, Elections & Govt, andMarina Pino

counsel, Elections & Govt of the Brennan Heart for Justice.