A new poll from Catawba College is shedding some light on how North Carolinians really feel about our state constitution.
North Carolinians' attitudes toward their state constitution reveal a knowledge gap, yet there is strong bipartisan consensus on key governance issues, according to the Catawba-YouGov Survey.
Fewer than 1 in 10 North Carolinians say they are "very familiar" with their state constitution, while 1 in 5 admit they are "not at all familiar" with it.
Conducted online by YouGov between Aug. 11-18, 2025, the survey interviewed 1,194 respondents who live in North Carolina. Seven out of 10 North Carolinians support maintaining the state’s current two-stage constitutional amendment process. This represents rare bipartisan consensus in today's political climate, with only 12% opposing the current system.
We sit down with the director of the Center for NC Politics & Public Service at Catawba College to dig deep into the survey’s findings. We’ll also hear from a retired North Carolina judge on how the state constitution impacts us all. And we’ll try to better understand what partisan gaps remain.
GUESTS:
Dr. Michael Bitzer, professor of politics and history, director of the Center for NC Politics & Public Service at Catawba College
Dr. Chris Cooper, director of the Haire Institute for Public Policy at Western Carolina University and author of the book “Anatomy of a Purple State: A North Carolina Politics Primer”
Judge Lucy Inman, retired judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Previously served as a Superior Court judge
