Americans agree – New national survey results from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation show major cross-party support for practical policy plans—undercutting the idea that Americans are as polarized as their leaders. The findings cite broad backing for
For years. political conflict has been packaged like entertainment—loud arguments. sharp labels. and the constant sense that the country is split beyond repair. But a new set of national surveys from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation (PPC) suggests a different reality: on many of the issues that dominate headlines. Americans are quietly converging.
The surveys found that there is majority support across party lines for a wide range of policy positions. The scale of that agreement is striking enough to challenge a prevailing assumption in today’s political conversation—that the public is driving polarization as much as elected officials are.
The research identifies 112 policy positions that receive majority support from both Republicans and Democrats nationwide. Even more, over two-thirds of respondents from both parties agree on 88 of those policies.
That common ground shows up clearly in specific, high-salience areas.
On health care costs, 86% of Americans support allowing the federal government to set maximum prescription drug prices based on what drugs cost in other developed countries. Support is broad within both parties: 90% of Republicans and 86% of Democrats back the idea.
On immigration, 83% support a package that combines mandatory E-Verify requirements for employers with an expansion of legal work visas when employers need workers. Democrats support the proposal at 84% and Republicans at 82%.
Families and cost-of-living issues also cut across party lines. On childcare, 83% support helping states ensure that low- and middle-income families spend no more than 7% of their income on childcare, with Democrats at 89% and Republicans at 77%.
On housing affordability, 83% support tax incentives for builders to construct or repair homes affordable to working families. Democrats back the proposal at 88%, while Republicans are at 80%.
Even debates about how Washington behaves show overlap. On term limits for Congress, 82% agree, with Democrats at 83% and Republicans at 85%. On banning members of Congress from trading stocks in individual companies, 76% agree, with Democrats at 75% and Republicans at 78%.
Technology policy is included in the same broad coalition. On requiring artificial intelligence systems that make consequential decisions about hiring, loans or health coverage to pass government-designed safety tests before deployment, 78% agree. Democrats are at 82% and Republicans at 78%.
The surveys point to an uncomfortable mismatch: many of these policies are in proposed legislation but are going nowhere. And that gap matters, given how visible congressional deadlock can feel.
The sequence of findings is the point. Americans are not lining up neatly on one side of every issue. but they are showing majority overlap—so the loudest political battles can create a distorted picture of what people actually want. The study suggests the public is often more pragmatic than the system designed to represent it.
In the surveys, 88% of Americans say that if they were more influenced by the people, members of Congress would be more likely to find common ground.
The research also acknowledges that disagreement doesn’t disappear. Americans remain divided on many important questions. Still, the researchers argue that what gets attention is what receives headlines—conflict—while bipartisan convergence can stay out of view.
That leaves the biggest question hanging: whether political institutions and candidates are ready to listen to the breadth of agreement that already exists.
The person behind the work is Dr. Steven Kull, a political psychologist and founder of the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. For more than three decades, he has conducted in-depth research on public opinion and democratic governance.
If the surveys are right, the challenge for U.S. politics isn’t the absence of common ground—it’s the willingness to recognize it, build on it, and act.
United States immigration healthcare costs prescription drug pricing E-Verify legal work visas childcare housing affordability term limits stock trading ban artificial intelligence safety tests public opinion polarization