While There is Appetite for Bipartisanship, Voters are Pessimistic About the Amount of Bipartisan Legislation Passed by Congress

The first poll in a new series of public opinion research from the Bipartisan Policy Center and Morning Consult finds that, heading into the State of the Union, a plurality of Americans grade President Biden and Congress with a D or F on their ability to work in a bipartisan manner. Americans also perceive partisan divides to be growing during the Biden administration.

More than half of voters (52%) think partisan polarization has increased and they cite the role of money in politics, spread of misinformation, media, and social media as the top causes of polarization.

In the past two years, about a third of voters have avoided conversations with people who have different political views, limited their time watching cable news, and limited time on social media.

However, the poll also found an appetite for Republicans and Democrats to work together to pass bipartisan legislation. A bipartisan majority of voters want to see Democrats and Republicans work together on health care, criminal justice, and working families legislation, rather than Democrats or Republicans solely working on the issue.

Methodology

This poll was conducted between February 18-20, 2022 among a sample of 2,005 registered voters. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of registered voters based on gender by age, educational attainment, race, marital status, home ownership, race by educational attainment, 2020 presidential vote, and region. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.