Poll: Desire for one-party rule spikes

A record percentage of Americans would prefer that a single political party control the government, with nearly half of all Democrats preferring that a one party be in charge of both the executive and legislative branches, according to a poll released Thursday.

A Gallup poll found that 38 percent of Americans want single-party rule in Washington, while 23 percent want divided government. A third have no preference, down from 39 percent in 2011. At that time, 29 percent wanted divided government, and 28 percent wanted single-party rule. In the past, most Americans have generally had no preference.


Democrats drove the sharp spike in support of one-party dominance, with 49 percent hoping for it, up for 35 percent in 2011. A slightly higher number of Republicans also wished for one party rule, and the percentage of independents jumped from 21 percent to 28 percent.

The numbers are highly influenced by political events, according to Gallup. In 2004, when Republicans held both the presidency and both chambers of Congress, GOP voters preferred single party government, 59 percent to 18 percent. Democrats wanted divided government, 42 percent to 37 percent.

The poll of 1,017 adults was conducted from Sept. 6-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

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Gallup