Most Americans continue to say that it would be “too risky” to give the nation’s presidents more power, but the share expressing this opinion has declined
The share of Republicans who say presidents could operate more effectively if they did not have to worry so much about Congress and the courts increased 16 percentage points over the past year, from 27% in March 2018 to 43% this past July. pewrsr.ch/2ZAK9vopic.twitter.com/9CxD7xczG1
Currently, 45% of the U.S. public has a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, while 52% view the GOP unfavorably. Opinions about the Democratic Party are the same (45% favorable, 52% unfavorable). pewrsr.ch/2ZAK9vopic.twitter.com/LIZDMuu4e7
In our July survey, a growing share of Republicans said the nation's problems could be dealt with more effectively if U.S. presidents "didn’t have to worry so much about Congress or the courts." pewrsr.ch/2ZAK9vopic.twitter.com/Dyr2ywtDyC
Serious jump in Republican support for the idea of expanding presidential power in new @pewresearch survey.
Still, 66% of overall public says "it would be too risky to give U.S. presidents more power to deal with many of the country's problems."
pewrsr.ch/2Kk1uU1pic.twitter.com/OGMt7U7zX9
When a political party thinks this way, the separation of powers is fundamentally ruptured and will not recover overnight. GOP electeds already think this; but worse, it's where the GOP rank and file is headed, and it won't be stopping anytime soon: /9
In just 17 months, "conservatives" went from 70%-26% opposed to expanding presidential power (allowing the president to bypass "Congress or the courts”) to 52%-41% in favor.
Most self-identified "conservatives" aren't conservative. They're authoritarian. pewrsr.ch/2GTP2Znpic.twitter.com/gzxM2HvBr3