Steven Kull
If you spend enough time watching cable news, scrolling social media or listening to political consultants, you could be forgiven for believing Americans agree on almost nothing. Every debate seems to reinforce the same message: The country is hopelessly polarized along partisan lines.
But is that really true?
While others are focused on what divides us, we've been asking a different question at the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation: Where is common ground among Americans?
The answers may surprise you. We actually agree on a lot.
Of course, Americans do not share all the same cultural touchpoints, views or politics. But it turns out Democrats and Republicans are like-minded on many of the most vexing issues facing our country. We know because we asked.
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In our national surveys, we identified 112 policy positions that receive majority support from both Republicans and Democrats nationwide. Even more striking, over two-thirds of respondents from both parties agree on 88 of those policies.
Consider a few examples of our findings:
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. That includes 90% of Republicans and 86% of Democrats.
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%; Republicans at 82%.
On childcare, 83% support helping states ensure that low- and middle-income families spend no more than 7% of their income on childcare (Democrats 89%, Republicans 77%).
On housing, 83% support tax incentives for builders to construct or repair homes affordable to working families (Democrats 88%, Republicans 80%).
On term limits for Congress, 82% agree (Democrats 83%, Republicans 85%).
On banning members of Congress from trading stocks in individual companies, 76% agree (Democrats 75%, Republicans 78%).
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 82%, Republicans 78%).
These are not obscure issues. They are among the most debated topics in American politics today. Most of these policies are in proposed legislation that is going nowhere.
Our findings challenge a powerful assumption in contemporary political discourse: that the American public is driving polarization.
Will our political institutions take advantage of how much we agree?
In reality, Americans often appear more pragmatic than the political system built to represent them. Indeed, 88% of Americans say that if they were more influenced by the people, members of Congress would be more likely to find common ground.
That doesn’t mean Americans don't disagree. Americans remain divided on many important questions.
The problem is that disagreement is all they hear about. Political conflict receives enormous attention because conflict is newsworthy. When Republicans and Democrats clash in Congress, it dominates headlines. When large bipartisan majorities of the people quietly converge on practical solutions, it often goes unnoticed.
The result is a distorted picture that may leave Americans believing we are far more divided than we actually are. This matters because democracy depends not only on disagreement but also on the ability to recognize shared interests and common goals.
If Americans have common ground on prescription drug costs, housing affordability, immigration, government ethics, childcare, Social Security and AI, the country’s greatest challenge is not a lack of public consensus. The challenge is for political institutions to recognize and build on the common ground that is already there.
The question, then, is whether our elected leaders and candidates are ready to actually listen to the people they seek to represent.
