It is unclear if Dr. Gallup's favored govt. reforms will ever become reality on a nationwide basis, but Americans still largely view them as worthy ideas

Americans in Favor of National Referenda on Key Issues:

• A majority of Americans back three political reform ideas, including 68% who favor national referenda on key issues if enough voters sign a petition to request a popular vote on the issue. Roughly six in 10 favor a shortened presidential campaign lasting five weeks in the fall of an election year and a nationwide primary election to select each party's candidates for president.
• Americans have long supported specific reforms to the political system that would increase the influence of average citizens and decrease the sway of elected representatives, political parties, and special interest groups. These reforms include national issue referenda, campaign finance reform, and basing the presidential election outcome on the popular vote. Perhaps it is not surprising Americans would favor steps that would make their voices more influential in determining government policy.
• However, nearly 40 years after Dr. Gallup proposed several reform ideas, few of these have become reality in the U.S. political system. Certainly, it is difficult to amend the constitution to change some of the basic ways the system operates, or even to pass legislation to change long-standing practices. Legal challenges have also thwarted or weakened legislative attempts to reform the system, such as campaign finance reform laws. In some cases, such as with the presidential primary system, the government and political parties have made reforms but stopped short of more radical change along the lines of the nationwide primary Dr. Gallup advocated. And although the federal government has not adopted referendum or term limits, many U.S. states have in recent decades.

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