According to the majority of Americans, several of the country’s largest organizations in both the public and private sector are too powerful.
More than two-thirds of Americans in a recent Gallup poll say lobbyists, banks, and major corporations have too much power. Meanwhile, 58 percent of respondents say the same thing about the federal government.
Democrats and Republicans are wont to disagree about which of these entities are too powerful, but the two seem to agree about one group: lobbyists. Seventy percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Democrats believe that lobbyists have too much power.
To a lesser extent, the two parties each believe that banks and financial institutions have too much power, with 58 percent of Republicans responding as such and 70 percent of Democrats. For major corporations, the breakdown is 56 percent of Republicans saying they have too much power, versus 73 percent of Democrats.
As for the federal government, the breakdown is not surprising: 75 percent of Republicans think it has too much power, while only 34 percent of Democrats agree. And for the most disparate views between the parties, there’s the issue of labor unions: 69 percent of Republicans think they have too much power, while only 20 percent of Democrats agree.
Gallup conducted a random telephone survey of 1,027 adults March 25-27. There is a margin of error of plus/minus 4 percentage points.
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