National Surveys Reveal Majorities of Republicans & Democrats Agree on 112 Key Policies
For 88 Policies, More Than Two-Thirds of Both Parties Agree
COLLEGE PARK, MD – While Democrats and Republicans in Congress are deeply divided, new national surveys find that when it comes to some of the most hotly-debated policy issues, Americans are not.
Overall, the surveys identified 112 policies that command bipartisan majority support. On 88 policies, more than two-thirds of both Republicans and Democrats support the same position.
The surveys, conducted by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC), affiliated with the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, are presented in The National Common Ground.
The policies explored cover some of the most debated issues, including ones related to the cost of living–healthcare costs, affordable housing, childcare–as well as immigration, artificial intelligence, America’s role in the world, abortion and birth control, energy and the environment, Social Security, taxes, low-income assistance, campaign finance, government reform and criminal justice.
Most of the policies were drawn from proposals in Congressional legislation, which have elicited partisan conflict in Congress. Steven Kull, Director of PPC comments, “Clearly, there is far more common ground among the public than there is in Congress.”
“Furthermore,” Kull comments, “In most cases, the level of bipartisan agreement is robust – more than two-thirds – across a wide range of policy areas.”
Here are some examples:
Healthcare costs: 86% favor having “the federal government set maximum [drug] prices based on what the drugs are sold for in other developed countries.” (Democrats 86%, Republicans 90%, independents 76%)
Immigration: 83% favor a package to both, “require employers to use a government system called E-Verify to ensure that their workers are in the US legally,” and, “increase the number of work visas given out each year, provided there is a demand for workers.” (Democrats 84%, Republicans 82%, independents 80%)
Childcare: 83% favor the federal government providing funds to states “so that low and middle income families spend no more than 7% of their income on childcare.” (Democrats 89%, Republicans 77%, independents 80%)
Housing affordability: 83% favor, “providing tax incentives to home builders to build or repair homes affordable to low- and middle-income households.” (Democrats 88%, Republicans 80%, independents 81%)
Campaign financing: 82% favor effectively overturning Citizens United by “passing a new Constitutional amendment that would allow Congress and state legislatures to restrict or prohibit corporations and private political groups (PACs) from spending money to influence elections.” (Democrats 85%, Republicans 82%, independents 71%)
Term Limits: 82% favor “a new Constitutional amendment that says House Members are limited to four two-year terms, and Senators are limited to three six-year terms.” (Democrats 83%, Republicans 85%, independents 76%)
Low-Income Assistance: 79% favor raising SNAP benefits for individuals. (Democrats 88%, Republicans 70%, independents 80%)
Social Security: 79% favor, “subjecting wages over $400,000 to [the Social Security] payroll tax” to address the shortfall. (Democrats 83%, Republicans 77%, independents 74%)
Artificial intelligence: 78% favor requiring new AI programs “first pass a government-designed test” if they “make decisions that can have significant impacts on people (e.g. in health insurance claims, loan applications, hiring, etc.)” (Democrats 82%, Republicans 78%, independents 67%)
Energy and environment: 77% favor, “tax credits for the production of energy that has no carbon emissions.” (Democrats 86%, Republicans 81%, independents 70%)
Undocumented immigrants: 77% favor, “to address immigrants in the US illegally who have not committed a crime, and who have been in the US for some years,” offering them, “a long-term visa, provided they pay a penalty and any taxes they may owe, and remain crime-free,” with those who do not qualify subject to deportation. (Democrats 87%, Republicans 69%, independents 77%)
Taxes: 76% favor, “raising the tax on capital gains,” for households with income of $1 million or more, “by taxing them at the same rate as ordinary income.” (Democrats 83%, Republicans 70%, independents 72%)
Government Ethics: 76% favor prohibiting Members of Congress, “from trading stocks in individual companies.” (Democrats 75%, Republicans 78%, independents 72%)
Ukraine: 65% favor, “the US continuing to provide military assistance to Ukraine, including military equipment, ammunition, training and intelligence.” (Democrats 75%, Republicans 58%, independents 55%)
The policy positions tested in the newest surveys were drawn from policy positions that had bipartisan support in previous in-depth surveys that provided respondents with a briefing on the issue and had them evaluate pro and con arguments. In the newest surveys, respondents were simply asked the policy question.
Thus, the 112 positions are ones that Republicans and Democrats support, both in their immediate response and also when they have had a chance to look closely at the issues and arguments.
Majority support for all 112 positions was also found among respondents in both very red and very blue states, categorized using Cook’s Partisan Voting Index.
The full list of 112 policies with bipartisan majority support from these surveys is available to explore in The National Common Ground, which includes the data showing bipartisan support in the in-depth PPC surveys and other national surveys, and the source of policy proposals tested.
About the Survey
Questionnaire with Toplines, Partisan Crosstabs, and Methodology
The surveys were fielded February 11-26, 2026 with 2,509 adults nationally, and March 11-19, 2026 with 1,200 adults nationally. Sample was obtained from multiple online opt-in panels, including Cint, Dynata and Prodege. Sample collection and quality control was managed by QuantifyAI under the direction of the Program for Public Consultation. The sample was pre-stratified and weighted by age, race, ethnicity, gender, education, household income, region, marital status, and home ownership to match the general adult population. The sample was also weighted by partisan affiliation. The surveys were offered in both English and Spanish. The confidence interval is +/- 2.9% for both surveys, the response rate for the sample was 7.6 and 8.3%, and the maximum weights were 2.5 and 1.9.
About the Program for Public Consultation
The Program for Public Consultation (PPC), affiliated with the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, develops and conducts public consultation surveys, seeking to improve democratic governance by consulting representative samples of citizens on key public policy issues. It shares its findings with officials in government, the media, other academics, and the general public.