Scientific Opinion Poll: Small Business Owners Feel Disadvantaged When it Comes to the Electoral Process, Support Significant Reforms
Small business owners support policies that would level the playing field between small employers and big corporations that donate large sums to election campaigns in order to influence the political system; believe it̢???s time to take steps to improve electoral process overall
Listen to press call recording here >>
Washington, DC̢??A scientific opinion poll released today shows small business owners believe big businesses have an unfair influence on government decisions and the political process̢??which gives them a competitive advantage over small firms̢??and they believe it̢???s time to take steps to improve the electoral process overall.
The poll, conducted Sept. 5-18, 2014, by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research on behalf of Small Business Majority, found more than three-fourths of small employers (77 percent) say big businesses have a significant impact on government decisions and the political process, whereas a mere 24 percent say small businesses have a significant impact on the process. A vast majority of small business owners (72 percent) say major changes are needed to the electoral system.
̢???Our current campaign finance laws benefit deep-pocketed corporations, which means that elected officials hear more from big business than small businesses like mine,̢???? said Rebecca Zemans, owner of Rebecca Zemans Jewelry in Chicago, Illinois. ̢???Common-sense campaign finance reforms would improve our political process so that the voices of everyone, not just big business, can be heard.̢????
Small employers overwhelmingly believe we need more transparency from special interest groups that finance election campaigns and 93 percent of small business owners support requiring special interest groups that use paid TV and mail ads during elections to publicly disclose where their money comes from. Small businesses also support publicly-financed campaigns, with a vast majority of entrepreneurs, 85 percent, who support changing the way we finance election campaigns to using only small contributions from voters and a limited amount of public funds.
̢???Small business owners are pragmatic, not ideological. And contrary to a long-held misconception, they are not reflexively anti-government,̢???? said John Arensmeyer, Founder & CEO of Small Business Majority. ̢???They want government to understand their needs and respond in a constructive manner̢??and then act on it, by adopting policies that level the playing field with big business and bring fairness to our campaign finance laws.̢????
The survey responses reflect a bipartisan consensus, with a plurality of small business owners (48 percent) who identified as Republican, 32 percent as Democrat and 11 percent as independent or other.
For the full poll report, please visit: http://www.smallbusinessmajority.org/small-business-research/government-accountability/small-business-support-for-election-reform.php
For the state-specific poll reports, please visit: