Sixty-three percent (63%) of American adults give the United States Constitution a good or an excellent rating. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 21% give the document a fair rating while just 12% say poor. Survey respondents were asked to rate the Constitution “in terms of how it impacts life in our country today.”

Eighty-four percent (84%) would vote to continue using the Constitution as the fundamental law of the United States. Just 8% would vote against it.

Sixty-one percent (61%) say the Constitution should be left unchanged. Twenty-nine percent (29%) say minor changes are needed. Only 7% believe major changes are needed and another 4% think we should scrap the document and start over again.

Living in an era when the federal government has expanded beyond anything the Founding Fathers could have imagined, just 17% of Americans now say the Constitution places too many restrictions on what the government can do. Forty-two percent (42%) take the opposite view and say that it does not place enough restrictions on what government can do. The Rasmussen Reports survey found that 32% believe the current balance is about right.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of conservatives give the Constitution good or excellent ratings. Just 58% of liberals say the same. Given those figures, it’s not surprising that 72% of conservatives believe the Constitution should be left alone and that 55% of liberals agree.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of liberals believe that minor changes are needed in the Constitution. Seventeen percent (17%) of conservatives agree.

A separate survey found that 40% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court. Another survey found that most Americans agree with the recent Court ruling to place limits on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation.

Rasmussen Reports regularly measures and reports public attitudes on the issues and topics of the day. Latest updates are available on the Rasmussen Reports home page.

Rasmussen Reports also updates the President’s Job Approval on a daily basis and continuously updates favorability ratings and general election match-ups for all Democratic and Republican candidates. Also available are ratings for Members of Congress, Other Political Figures, and Journalists.

Rasmussen Reports also regularly tracks public attitudes towards Congress, the War on Terror, and other topics.

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