Dem
47
GOP
53
Verasight ran a poll that asked about major structural changes to the U.S. system of government, something pollsters rarely do. The results are very surprising. Americans are much more willing to accept radical change than most people think. Here are the results.
The numbers are the net positive scores on the various questions. So for example, on the question limiting the pardon power, 56% are for limiting it and 24% are against limiting it, so the net positive is 32%, shown in the graphic above. The most popular reform is limiting Supreme Court members to a single 18-year term. The least popular reform is making D.C. a state. Democrats are lukewarm on it and independents and Republicans are against it because it seems blatantly partisan. For Puerto Rico, there is more support.
Republicans are much less enthusiastic than Democrats on every item. That is partly because conservatives oppose change as a general principle—that is, they want to conserve things as they are. But there is also a partisan factor. They know that if a Democratic president gets to appoint another four members to the Supreme Court, there goes their majority and a future Democratic trifecta will actually be able to pass laws and make them stick. They don't want that.
As a political matter, it makes sense for Democrats to run on "government reform" without getting into too much detail except maybe on limiting the terms of justices (which would likely require a constitutional amendment) and limiting the pardon power (which would probably also require an amendment). But if there is enough support from both parties, amendments can happen.
Another issue that might be popular is ethics reform for the Supreme Court. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito received gifts (free vacations) worth thousands of dollars. They disclosed that only when reporters discovered it. A law banning justices and judges from accepting any gifts over, say, $100, would probably be a strong campaign issue. (V)