Week Three: Hidden Common Ground
“Most Americans think our democracy is in trouble...”
Our second summer 2021 series is focusing on the challenges and opportunities facing those who seek to reunite our divided nation. In this third week of the new series, we consider one of the opportunities available to people hoping to reunite America. Drawing on a continuing series of national surveys, this week we consider something many may find surprising; Americans actually agree on many fundamental questions.
In an interview with public radio’s Brian Lehrer, David Schleifer, director of research at Public Agenda, a nonpartisan public opinion research organization, and Gerard Robinson, USA Today opinion contributor, AEI scholar and a former secretary of education in Virginia and Florida education commissioner, talk about the latest report from the Public Agenda/USA TODAY Hidden Common Ground survey.
Three areas of common ground especially caught our attention:
“Americans of all political leanings are worried about the state of democracy, but are split on whether we simply need to elect the right leaders or whether we need more systemic change…”
“To build a healthier democracy, Americans across partisan lines emphasize responsive government, fair and secure elections, unifying leadership, and accurate news and information.”
“Americans are united in believing that elections can be both secure and accessible and that the federal government should make sure voting is simple, convenient and hassle-free for every person in every state.”
A very important difference, however, also showed up in the results: “Americans of different partisan affiliations disagree on whether racism is a barrier to political participation and on whether addressing racism requires systemic change. Republicans’ views on these questions stand in contrast to those of Democrats, Independents and unaffiliated Americans; differences by racial identification are more modest.”
The audio recording from WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show at the link below runs 26 minutes.
For the full report and more information on Public Agenda and its Hidden Common Ground project, click here.