Gallup poll shows little change in evenly divided approval ratings for the Supreme Court
Americans have been split on approval of the U.S. Supreme Court since 2012, and a new Gallup poll shows that the numbers haven’t changed much.
According to a a href=”http://www.gallup.com/poll/178067/americans-approval-supreme-court-steady.aspx”>press release on the Gallup website, 44 percent of Americans approved of the high court in a poll released Monday. Another 48 percent disapproved. The poll was taken Sept. 4-7—prior to Monday’s announcement that the court would not hear same-sex marriage cases.
Gallup first began asking the currently used questions about the Supreme Court in 2000. At that time, the court was generally viewed positively, with a 62 percent approval rating. Though approval trended downward since then, Americans were still more approving than disapproving until 2012. One exception to this trend: Approval dropped sharply in 2005 immediately following the Kelo v. New London decision, which permitted eminent domain to be used for redevelopment purposes.
But since 2012, Americans have been about evenly divided in their feelings about the Supreme Court, Gallup says. Republicans have been less approving of the court in recent years, which Gallup says is consistent with results showing that approval of the Supreme Court is influenced by the party of the president in office. However, Republican approval of the court recently surged to 51 percent after last term’s Burwell v. Hobby Lobby ruling, according to a Gallup poll in July.
Gallup notes that Americans are also less approving of government in general in recent years. However, the high court’s approval rating has still been better than or about the same as President Barack Obama’s, which Gallup put at 43 percent on Sept. 29, and far better than that of Congress, which was 14 percent on Sept. 8.
