Public Opinion Snapshot: Public to Conservatives: Government Regulation Can Be Good!

By Ruy Teixeira | June 11, 2012

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When conservatives aren’t talking about cutting taxes for the rich, they’re getting misty-eyed about removing business regulations. Indeed, nothing less than the obliteration of all current restrictions on business would appear to satisfy them. There’s just one problem: The public doesn’t share this commitment.

On the contrary, the public understands that a free market economy needs regulation to serve the common good. And as a matter of fact, that was its verdict by a wide 63-31 margin in the Pew Research Center’s new American Values Survey released in April.

In the same survey, the public called for stricter laws and regulations when it comes to protecting the environment by an overwhelming 74-25 margin.

Conservatives may be convinced that the “magic of the market” obviates the need for laws governing business. But the public clearly does not agree.

Ruy Teixeira is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. To learn more about his public opinion analysis, go to the Media and Progressive Values page and the Progressive Studies program page of our website.