The Program for Public Consultation (PPC) seeks to improve democratic governance by helping governments consult their citizenry on the key public policy issues the government faces.


PPC is a joint program of the Center on Policy Attitudes and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.


Majority of Americans Willing to Make Defense Cuts

In a unique study, a representative sample of Americans were shown the size of the defense budget from different perspectives and presented with arguments that experts make for and against cutting it. Three quarters of respondents favored cutting defense as a way to reduce the deficit, including two thirds of Republicans as well as nine in 10 Democrats.

Respondents were also presented with information about the defense budget's nine major areas, including arguments for and against cutting each of them, and given the chance to increase or decrease the amount budgeted. Majorities made cuts in all nine areas, though majorities of Republicans made them only in six.

Overall, respondents composed a defense budget for 2013 that was significantly smaller than for 2012, with an average cut of 18%. Republicans cut an average of 12% and Democrats 22%.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.)

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Public Consultation Finds Bipartisan Support for Extending Bush-Era Tax Cuts, But Only for Income Under $250k

With President Obama presenting his proposed budget for 2013, the question of how to deal with the Bush-era tax cuts, scheduled to terminate at the end of 2012, is once again on the table.

The Program for Public Consultation presented a representative sample of Americans with options for dealing with the tax cuts, including--for each option--a description of the budgetary consequences and two strongly-stated arguments in its favor.

In conclusion, seven in ten (71%) favored extending the cuts for income below $250,000. This included 22% who favored extending the cuts for all income levels, as well as 49% who favored limiting the extension to income below $250,000.

A similar margin (73%) favored terminating the cuts for income over $250,000. This included 24% who favored terminating them for all income levels, as well as the 49% who favored terminating them only for income above $250,000.

(Image Credit: David Reber)

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Public Consultation Finds Strong Bipartisan Support for Extending Employees’ Payroll Tax Cut

But Partisan Division on How to Pay for It


Modest Support for Employer’s Payroll Tax Cut


When a representative sample of Americans was presented a detailed explanation of the costs and potential benefits of extending the payroll tax cut for employees, including strongly stated arguments for and against the idea, 68% favored the idea. This included 65% of Republicans as well as 74% of Democrats.

There were, however, partisan divisions on how to pay for the tax cut. While overall 56% preferred a higher tax on earnings above $1 million, including three in four Democrats and a majority of independents supported a higher tax, three-fifths of Republicans preferred reducing the federal workforce and lengthening the freeze on its pay.

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Meet John Q. Public, deficit-cutter

By Steven Kull

As Democrats and Republicans head perilously closer to federal default on the debt, like teenagers heading toward a cliff in the game of chicken, we might ask "What would the public do?"

Is the partisan impasse a mirror of a polarized public?

Polls repeatedly show that the public would be ready to make a deal. Even if a representative sample of Republicans and Democrats were to sit down, majorities on both sides could find common ground. Contrary to Republicans in Congress, the GOP public is ready to accept some increases in taxes. Contrary to Democrats in Congress, the Democratic public is ready to show flexibility on entitlements.

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Does the Majority Want to Tyrannize the Minority?

In the current struggle over how to deal with the budget deficit, there is a recurring fear on both ends of the political spectrum that the majority will coalesce around a deficit-cutting strategy that will benefit the majority to the detriment—and against the will of—a minority. This harks back to the concerns of some of the Founders of the republic that the majority might tyrannize minorities.

On the right there is a fear that lower and middle income Americans will coalesce around a plan for increasing the taxes of the wealthy against their will. On the left there is a fear that middle and upper income Americans will coalesce around cutting spending on social programs that primarily benefit those with low incomes, against the latter’s will.

A recent PPC study found, however, that neither of these concerns were borne out when Americans were given an opportunity to make such changes. A representative sample of Americans were presented the federal budget, and federal tax rates and allowed to make changes as they saw fit, getting constant feedback on how their changes were affecting the budget deficit. They were also presented options for dealing with the Social Security shortfall.

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Public Proposes Federal Budget Dramatically Different Than House or White House

An innovative study has found that when a representative sample of the American public was presented the federal budget, they proposed changes far different from those the Obama administration or the Republican-led House have proposed.

The biggest difference in spending is that the public favored deep cuts in defense spending, while the administration and the House propose modest increases. However, the public also favored more spending on job training, education, and pollution control than did either the administration or the House. On average the public made a net reduction of $146 billion--far more than either the administration or the House called for.

While there were some partisan differences in the magnitude of spending changes, in two out of three cases average Republicans, Democrats and independents agreed on which items should be cut or increased.

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American Public Shows How it Would Cut the Budget Deficit

Try the Interactive Budget Exercise

Listen to PPC Director Steven Kull discuss the study on Marketplace:


A new study finds that when average Americans are presented the federal budget in some detail, most are able to dramatically reduce the budget deficit and resolve the Social Security shortfall.

In December the Chairs of the President's Fiscal Commission released their proposal for addressing the budget deficit and the projected shortfalls for Social Security and Medicare. This new study shows how the American public would deal with these challenges.

Through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases, on average, respondents cut the discretionary budget deficit projected for 2015 by seventy percent. Six in ten solved the problem of the projected Social Security shortfall through adjustments in payroll taxes, premiums, and benefits. The projected Medicare shortfall was also dramatically reduced.

The study was conducted by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC), affiliated with the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, and fielded by Knowledge Networks. Unlike conventional polls PPC consults with the public by first presenting respondents with information on policy issues and a range of options for addressing them.

(Image Credit: cjbrenchley)

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PPC Director Steven Kull was interviewed for an episode of International Investor titled "Solving the Federal Debt Problem". The episode includes an extensive discussion of the recent PPC study on the federal budget.