Poll shows most want fundamental changes

After more than two years of the Donald Trump presidency, Andrea Petrusky is ready for some fundamental changes in the way the United States government works.

“Right now we’re being shown all of the loopholes, the president being able to do all the things that no president should,” said Petrusky, a 46-year-old elementary school teacher in a Seattle suburb. “It’s time to update what he’s allowed to do and not do. I think it’s time to toddlerproof the presidency.”

Petrusky is not alone in yearning for big changes to the way the United States government is structured. A new survey by the University of Chicago Harris School for Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that

54% of Americans think the system needs major changes and

12% believe it should be completely replaced.

While 61% of Democrats like Petrusky want big changes, 52% of Republicans do as well. About 1 in 10 Democrats and Republicans say they want the system completely replaced, while that view is about twice as common among independents.

The AP-NORC poll finds that discontent with the government system is closely tied with policy concerns. It asked Americans how they think the government is performing on a series of issues as well as whether it has a role in handling those issues at all. Those who are most critical of the way government handles issues they think it should be dealing with are most likely to want changes, with 65% saying they desire major changes and 18% seeking a completely different system of government.

By contrast, among those happiest with the government’s performance on those issues, 48% say they want major changes and 8% want a total overhaul.

Petrusky, who’s trained as an environmental scientist, is aghast at how Trump named a former coal lobbyist, Andrew Wheeler, to run the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Maybe that should be an elected position, too, where you have to prove your worth,” she said.

Don Conford likes what Trump is doing, but he, too, thinks there needs to be big changes in the way the government works, like term limits for members of Congress. The 54-year-old runs his own small construction business from a Los Angeles suburb and thinks government is corrupt.

“These politicians get into office, and they just sit there and sit there and sit there,” said Conford, who goes without health insurance because he can’t afford it. “It’s immigrants’ rights and criminals’ rights up and down the board, and us hardworking citizens have to pay for it.”

Conford is part of the 70% of Americans who feel that people like them have too little influence on the government. In contrast, 81% think wealthy people have too much sway and 78% think large businesses have too much power in Washington.

“It’s time to update what he’s allowed to do and not do. I think it’s time to toddler-proof the presidency.” – ANDREA PETRUSKY