Partisan Animosity and America

The Path to the 2024 Presidential Election: SCOTUS

Published

July 1, 2024

Executive Summary

Amid growing concerns about Supreme Court power and ethics, we conducted a survey to gauge American attitudes toward the Supreme Court. As our survey shows, while Americans are divided over whether the Court has too much power, they overwhelmingly agree that it should not have more. Additionally, a majority of Americans believe that at least one Supreme Court Justice should be investigated for ethical lapses. Democrats and Republicans are severely polarized on this issue, with Democrats expressing far more concern about Supreme Court power and ethics. We also explored gender gaps, given the Supreme Courts recent decisions on abortion, and find sizable gaps between men and women, particularly among political independents.

This report presents findings on American attitudes toward the Supreme Court. Between May 31 and Jun 20, we surveyed 3000 Americans on their attitudes toward the Supreme Court. The survey was conducted online and weighted to be representative of the American population.

Key findings include:

  • Americans are ambivalent about the Supreme Court’s power: Slightly more than half of respondents believe that the Supreme Court has the right amount of power, but a significant minority believe it has too much power.
  • Americans are divided on whether Congress should limit the Supreme Court’s power: While 29.8% of Americans think that Congress should limit the Supreme Court’s power, 36% of Americans do not think Congress should limit the Supreme Court’s power.
  • However, when asked about one specific avenue for reform, a plurality of Americans support term limits for Supreme Court Justices: While only 23.8% of Americans oppose term limits for Supreme Court Justices, 49.7% of Americans support them.
  • A majority of Americans think that at least one member of the Supreme Court should be investigated and potentially impeached for ethical lapses: 61.1% of Americans think that at least one member of the court should be investigated. 32.5% of Americans think that Justice Thomas should be investigated and 25.0% of Americans think that Justice Alito should be investigated.
  • Democrats and Republicans are sharply divided on these issues: Not surprisingly, a majority or a plurality of Democrats believe that the Supreme Court should be reformed, while most Republicans do not. While large numbers of Americans across the political spectrum believe that at least one member of the Supreme Court should be investigated, the specific Justices they believe should be investigated differ by party.
  • There are substantive gaps between men and women on these issues: Across the parties, women are more likely to worry about the Supreme Court’s power and ethics. This is particularly true among female political independents versus male political independents.

Main results

This the sixth in a series of monthly reports on the state of partisan animosity conducted by the Polarization Research Lab (PRL) at Dartmouth College and University of Pennsylvania. This report looks at 3000 interviews conducted in June 2024.

Americans are ambivalent about the Supreme Court’s power and abstract attempts to restrict it.

The majority of Americans do not perceive the Supreme Court as too powerful. According to a recent survey, 57% of respondents believe the Supreme Court has the right amount of power, while 40% think it has too much power. Almost no Americans believe that the Supreme Court lacks sufficient power.

However, there is a significant partisan divide on this issue. Only 20% of Republicans think the Supreme Court has too much power, whereas 56% of Democrats believe it has the right amount of power.

There are also substantial gender gaps in these opinions. While 61% of men believe the Supreme Court has the right amount of power, only 53% of women share this view. The gender gap is even more pronounced among electorally crucial independents. Among male independents, 67% think the Supreme Court has the right amount of power, compared to only 52% of female independents.

Americans are largely ambivalent about whether Congress should curtail the power of the Supreme Court. Approximately 30% of Americans agree that “Congress should limit the power of the Supreme Court,” while 36% disagree, and 34% are unsure.

There are significant partisan differences in these opinions. A plurality of Democrats (43%) agree that Congress should limit the power of the Supreme Court, whereas only 16% of Republicans share this view. Independents are more divided on this issue.

Men and women also have different opinions on this issue. While 31% of women disagree that Congress should limit the power of the Supreme Court, 41% of men disagree. Within partisan groups, male and female Democrats are fairly united in their beliefs. However, male independents and Republicans are substantially more likely to disagree with the statement than their female counterparts.

However, when considering a specific method for limiting the power of the courts—through term limits—we see more unity among Americans. Nearly 50% of Americans support term limits for Supreme Court justices, with Democrats being substantially more likely to support such limits than Republicans and Independents. Nonetheless, a clear minority of Americans across all parties oppose term limits for Supreme Court justices.

There is very little evidence that men and women, in general or within parties, have different opinions on this question.

The majority of Americans (61.1%) believe that “certain Supreme Court justices should be investigated for ethical lapses and possibly removed from office.” However, there are substantial partisan differences in these opinions. While 81% of Democrats agree with this statement, only 42% of Republicans agree. Independents are more divided on this issue.

There are some gender gaps on this issue as well, with women being more likely than men to believe that Supreme Court justices should be investigated. Although male and female Democrats hold similar attitudes, female Republicans and Independents believe that certain Supreme Court justices should be investigated at higher rates than their male counterparts.

Appendix

About The Polarization Research Lab and our Data

  • The Polarization Research Lab works to understand and strengthen democracy by conducting rigorous science, producing public goods, and training the next generation of scholars. The Lab is led by PIs Sean J. Westwood at Dartmouth College, and Yphtach Lelkes at the Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania.
  • PRL studies the political attitudes of Americans and the behavior of elected officials. Our goals are to:
    • Dispel rumors and show hard data on the democratic attitudes of citizens. We conduct the largest continuous tracking poll on YouGov, collecting 1,000 interviews of Americans a week.
    • Identify the behavior of elected officials that contributes to toxic polarization.
    • Produce publicly available reports and tools to help stakeholders advance responses to toxic polarization that are based in data and evidence. PRL works directly with journalists, democracy practitioners, and policymakers.

PRL Is Supported by

  • The Charles Koch Foundation
  • The Hewlett Foundation
  • The Knight Foundation
  • The Templeton World Charity Foundation
  • The Carnegie Corporation
  • New Pluralists

Survey Questions: SCOTUS

  1. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Congress should limit the power of the Supreme Court.”
  • Strongly disagree
  • Disagree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Agree
  • Strongly agree
  1. Do you think the U.S. Supreme Court has too much power, too little power or the right amount of power?
  • Too little power
  • Right amount of power
  • Too much power
  1. Members of the Supreme Court are appointed for life. Do you support or oppose the implementation of term limits for U.S. Supreme Court Justices?
  • Strongly oppose
  • Oppose
  • Neutral
  • Support
  • Strongly support
  1. Do you believe that certain Supreme Court justices should be investigated for ethical lapses and possibly removed from office?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not sure
  1. [If 6 is “Yes”] Which Supreme Court justices do you think should be subject to investigation for ethical lapses? (Select all that apply) [randomize 1-9]
  • Chief Justice John Roberts
  • Justice Clarence Thomas
  • Justice Samuel Alito
  • Justice Neil Gorsuch
  • Justice Brett Kavanaugh
  • Justice Amy Coney Barrett
  • Justice Sonia Sotomayor
  • Justice Elena Kagan
  • Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
  • None of the above
  • Not sure