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Quiz: Consensus in America – Part 1

August 16, 2020

The August 2020 report we unveiled with our partners at Voice of the People detailed nearly 150 policy positions on which Republicans and Democrats agree. Do you know where Americans share common ground?

Unless we make changes to Social Security, the Trust Fund will be depleted by 2035. To reduce the shortfall by 15 percent, majorities of Republicans and Democrats support raising the retirement age from 65 to ___ over a period of ten years.
- 66
- 68
- 70
- 72
A strong majority of Democrats support creating a new long-term visa for undocumented immigrants and ultimately offering a path to citizenship. Most Republicans, however, are opposed.
- True
- False
Support is high in both parties for expanding the ______________, which benefits low- and middle-income workers. This tax provision works by providing a credit equal to a percentage of a worker’s earnings, and offers larger credits to families with children.
- American Opportunity Tax Credit
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
- Savers Tax Credit
Support for reducing greenhouse gases is somewhat mixed, but Americans show strong bipartisan support when it comes to providing tax credits for:
- Building energy-efficient homes
- Installing fuel-efficient lighting, doors, windows, and insulation on homes and businesses
- Installing small residential wind and fuel cell micro-turbines
- All of the above
Three-quarters of Americans want to pass a new Constitutional amendment that would enable governments to better regulate campaign financing, and to put more restrictions on corporate giving than individual giving. This would effectively overturn which Supreme Court decision?
- Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce
- Buckley v. Valeo
- Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
- Davis v. Federal Election Commission
Majorities of people in both parties support taking responsibility for Congressional redistricting out of the hands of state legislatures and giving it instead to citizen commissions that are representative of the state’s demographics and partisan affiliations. This idea is much more popular among one of the parties. Which is it?
- Republicans
- Democrats
Federal legislation passed in 1986 required that certain ‘one strike’ drug offenses carry a minimum sentence of ten years. Over time, this led to a major increase in the number of people incarcerated for drug offenses and the length of time people spend in prison. Americans overwhelmingly support reducing that ten-year minimum to:
- 5 years
- 2 years
- 6 months
- No minimum
One proposal to reform policing in the U.S. is amending qualified immunity, which would allow police officers to be held liable in civil cases for using excessive force. Among Democrats, support is at 84 percent. Among Republicans, most oppose the proposal but a majority find it to be at least tolerable.
- True
- False
How many Americans want the U.S. to maintain enough nuclear weapons to fulfill a minimum retaliatory capability, meaning that the U.S. must have at least enough weapons to retaliate against an all-out surprise nuclear attack?
- 55 percent
- 65 percent
- 75 percent
- 85 percent
Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats believe that people should not be able to use SNAP benefits (also known as food stamps) for soda and candy, but support offering discounts when those benefits are used to buy fruits and vegetables.
- True
- False

All survey data comes from The Common Ground of the American People, a report analyzing the results of policymaking simulations conducted with over 80,000 people over five years. Read the full report here and dive further into the issues here.

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