Large Majorities of U.S. Adults Continue to Think That Big Companies, PACs, and Lobbyists Have Too Much Power and Influence in Washington

ROCHESTER, N.Y. –December 1, 2005 – As scandals involving power and influence continue to unfold in Washington, D.C., it is not surprising that the American public thinks certain groups have too much power and influence in our nation’s capital. By very large majorities, U.S. adults believe that big companies (90%) and Political Action Committees, or PACs (85%). have too much power and influence in Washington. Not far behind, three-quarters (74%) of adults believe political lobbyists have too much power and influence, while two-thirds (68%) feel this way about the news media.

Looking at this from the opposite perspective, 92 percent of U.S. adults believe that small business has too little power and influence in Washington. Large numbers also believe public opinion (78%) and nonprofit organizations (67%) have too little power and influence.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll^®, a nationwide study conducted by telephone by Harris Interactive^® among 1,011 U.S. adults between November 8 and 13, 2005.

There are two other institutions which majorities of the public believe have too much power – trade associations (61%) and TV and radio talk shows (51%). Conversely, over half of the public believes racial minorities (58%), churches and religious groups (55%) and opinion polls (53%) all have too little power and influence in Washington. Interestingly, the public seems to be split on labor unions as 43 percent believe they have too much power and 46 percent believe they have too little power.

In comparing this year to last year, there are two interesting things to note. First, the top four institutions seen as having too much power have all seen a rise in their numbers, with big companies seeing the largest increase – from 83 percent in 2004 to 90 percent this year. Second, in looking at those who are seen as having too little power, all of those repeated on our list, with the exception of big companies and PACs, saw a rise in their numbers. Labor unions saw the largest increase with 37 percent feeling they had too little power and influence in 2004 compared to 46 percent this year.

When looking at the longer-term changes between 1994 and 2004, the biggest changes are:

• An 11-point decline from 79 to 68 percent in those who think the news media have too much power and influence.
• A 10-point decline from 38 to 28 percent in those who think that racial minorities have too much power and influence.
• A five-point decline from 79 to 74 percent in those who think that political lobbyists have too much power and influence.
• A four-point increase from 86 to 90 percent in those who think that big companies have too much power.
• A four-point decline from 82 to 78 percent in those who think that public opinion has too little influence.

On certain issues related to power and influence in Washington, Republicans, Democrats and Independents tend to agree. Eighty-five percent or more of the three groups believe that big companies and PACs have too much power and influence. Furthermore, almost the same number of Republicans and Democrats (61% and 60%, respectively) believe trade associations have too much power and influence.

However, there are also some big differences. Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to believe that labor unions have too much power (64% vs. 22%). They are also more likely to think that the news media (87% vs. 57%), racial minorities (38% vs. 16%), opinion polls (44% vs. 24%) political lobbyists (80% vs. 69%), TV and radio talk shows (60% vs. 50%), and nonprofit organizations (27% vs. 17%) have too much power.

Democrats, on the other hand, are more likely than Republicans to think that churches and religious organization (44% vs. 18%) have too much power.

"And now a question about the power of different groups in influencing government policy, politicians, and policy makers in Washington. Do you think (READ EACH ITEM) have/has too much or too little power and influence in Washington?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100 percent due to rounding.

"And now a question about the power of different groups in influencing government policy, politicians, and policy makers in Washington. Do you think (READ EACH ITEM) have/has too much or too little power and influence in Washington?"

Base: All Adults

"And now a question about the power of different groups in influencing government policy, politicians, and policy makers in Washington. Do you think (READ EACH ITEM) have/has too much or too little power and influence in Washington?"

Base: All Adults

"And now a question about the power of different groups in influencing government policy, politicians, and policy makers in Washington. Do you think . . . have/has too much or too little power and influence in Washington?"

Base: All Adults

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the United States between November 8 and 13, 2005 among a nationwide cross section of 1,011 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for the sub-samples of Republicans (335), Democrats (311), and Independents (254) is higher and varies. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

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