The question of whether industries should be regulated by the government — and to what extent — has played a central role in many political campaigns, including those of presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. A new YouGov survey revisits questions asked last year on public attitudes toward the regulation of a variety of industries, and finds an increase in support for regulating artificial intelligence (AI). Additionally, it explores perceptions of where the candidates stand on regulation and other economic issues.
Our latest poll on regulation measured whether Americans think each of 40 industries should be more regulated, less regulated, or have no change in regulation. Each respondent was asked about a randomly selected sample of half of the industries.
Support for increased regulation is high for many industries, including AI, pharmaceuticals, social media, firearms, and health insurance. For each of the 40 industries asked about, more Americans say they support increasing regulation than say they support decreasing it. Cannabis is the only sector where regulation is even a close call: 38% want cannabis to be more regulated and 32% want it less regulated.
For most industries, views on regulation haven't changed much since February 2023, which was the last time these questions were asked. The one exception is AI, for which Americans are now 15 percentage points more likely to favor increased regulation than they were last year. AI is now the industry for which Americans are most likely to want an increase in regulation, surpassing the pharmaceutical industry, which topped the 2023 ranking. Other more minor shifts include an increase in the share wanting more regulation of the grocery industry (+8) and a decrease in the shares wanting more regulation of professional sports (-11) and entertainment (-8).
For nearly every industry, increased regulation is more popular among registered voters who support Harris than among Trump supporters. The largest gaps are in regard to regulating firearms, mining and natural resources, and oil and gas; for each, at least three-quarters of Harris supporters, but fewer than one-third of Trump supporters, want increased regulation. Trump's supporters are somewhat more likely than Harris' to favor increased regulation of pornography and of cannabis.
While Trump's supporters are less pro-regulation than Harris', many do want greater oversight of certain industries. For 24 of the 40 industries included in the poll, Trump supporters are likelier to say they want regulation increased than to say they want it decreased.
There are also some gender differences on this issue, with women being somewhat more likely than men to support increasing regulation. This is especially the case for pornography, cosmetics and beauty, firearms, food and beverage, health care, grocery, manufacturing, and gambling.
Many Americans believe that Harris wants to increase regulation, and that Trump wants to decrease it. Harris is more likely to be seen as pro-regulation by Trump supporters than she is by her own supporters. Trump, on the other hand, is slightly more likely to be seen as anti-regulation by his own supporters than he is by Harris'.
See where Americans think Harris and Trump stand on other economic issues below:
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Related:
- Which industries do Americans think should be more regulated?
- Americans' most and least favored industries
- Which sectors of the economy do Americans think are liberal and conservative?
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted online among 2,267 U.S. adult citizens on two separate surveys from September 9 - 11, 2024 and September 10 - 12, 2024. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%. Respondents were asked about a randomly selected sample of 20 of the 40 industries on each poll.
Image: Getty
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