The Foundations of American Jewish Liberalism

Wald, Kenneth D.

doi:10.1017/9781108597388

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…In the analyses presented above, we find that liberal and conservative Americans have a preference for uncritical or constructive patriotism in general, regardless of whether the focus concerns the United States or Israel. More likely is that any increase in the acceptability of Jewish criticism toward Israel (and any corresponding decrease in uncritical Israel patriotism) is largely epiphenomenal of American Jews becoming more liberal (Wald 2019). At the same time, it is notoriously difficult to determine why someone does not care about something they do not care about.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On one hand, American Jews strongly identify as liberals aligned with the Democratic Party. This tendency is striking because American Jews identify as liberal at far higher levels than would be expected based on their socio-economic status and religiosity; American Jews are not just liberal, but anomalously so (Wald 2019). On the other hand, favorable views of Israel are more common on the political right (Oldmixon, Rosenson, and Wald 2005;Gries 2015), and, since the late 1970s, right-wing parties such as Likud have dominated Israeli politics (Waxman 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Is Criticism Disloyal? American Jews' Attitudes toward Israel

Wright

Saxe

Wald

2020

Politics and Religion

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To what extent is it possible for American Jews to maintain a deep emotional connection to Israel while criticizing the actions of the Israeli government? This long-debated question echoes earlier investigations of different forms of patriotism toward one's home country. Drawing on two 2019 surveys of American Jews, we find that, like Americans in general, Jewish liberals and conservatives express different forms of patriotism toward both Israel and America. Jewish conservatives tend to oppose criticism of Israel and America for any reason, while Jewish liberals view criticism as an important part of “caring” about both countries. Both forms of patriotism are positively associated with stronger emotional connections to the relevant country. These results suggest that emotional connection to Israel represents a form of social identification with Israel and that lower levels of connection to Israel among some American Jews are driven more by apathy than active criticism or hostility.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Is Criticism Disloyal? American Jews' Attitudes toward Israel

Wright

Saxe

Wald

2020

Politics and Religion

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“…For example, evangelical Protestantism and Mormonism tend to push adherents in consistently conservative directions on multiple issues (Campbell et al, 2014; Castle, 2019; Layman & Green, 2006). Meanwhile, identifying as a Jew or as an atheist or agnostic is linked to consistent liberalism (Campbell, Layman, et al, 2021; Wald, 2019). By contrast, Catholic identity, in and of itself, produces partisan conflict.…”

Section: Cross‐pressures and Catholic Political Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another reason for Catholics' declining Democratic attachments was their dramatic rise in socioeconomic status in the second half of the 20th century (Greeley, 1990; Wald, 2019). As Catholics moved from economic marginalization into the American middle class, their support for Democratic redistributive policies declined, and the Republican agenda of tax cuts and limited government grew more attractive (Mockabee, 2007).…”

Section: Cross‐pressures and Catholic Political Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping with Cross‐Pressures: The Seamless Garment in Catholic Political Behavior

Antkowiak

Allen

Layman

2021

Political Psychology

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The Catholic Church is the largest religious denomination in the United States, yet political science lacks a comprehensive account of how the cross-pressures created by its policy prescriptions structure Catholic political behavior. Because Catholicism's policy positions land on both sides of the contemporary partisan divide-its cultural concerns aligning with the Republican Party and its pro-social justice stance compatible with Democratic priorities-adherence to Church teaching creates electoral dilemmas for Catholic voters. By juxtaposing existing work on Catholic political behavior with the psychological literature on cognitive dissonance, we form expectations about Catholic adherence to Church policy prescriptions and its implications for electoral choice. We focus empirically on "Seamless Garment Catholics" (SGCs)-those Catholics who share the Church's policy positions-finding that seamless-garment views are uncommon among Catholic voters, are more common among religiously committed and Latino Catholics, and are discouraged by ties to the two major parties. SGCs are more likely than other Catholics to employ psychological coping mechanisms, such as avoidance and selective perception, to reduce Church-inspired cognitive dissonance. Our research provides insight into an important electoral bloc that is cross-pressured uniquely by its faith commitments.

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“…Elsewhere, emerging evidence suggests that Jewish voters in Canada have deserted their traditional home of the center-left Liberals, now being associated with the Conservatives, in a very short space of time (Medved 2013). Whilst their co-religionists in the United States have remained resolutely supportive of the Democrats (Kotler-Berkowitz 2005; Sonenshein and Valentino 2000; Wald 2015; 2019; Smith and Martinez 2016) this has not been without large anomalous drops in support coinciding with the candidacy of Jimmy Carter, and the corresponding associations of the Democrats becoming increasingly allied to Evangelical Christianity (Wald 2015). Given that the volatility of such examples of political attitudes and behavior are not adequately explained by our existing theories, we must, therefore, look elsewhere for suitable interpretations of the effect of religious affiliation when minority status is also a factor.…”

Section: The Political Choices Of the Jewish Diasporamentioning

confidence: 99%

When Religious Voting Becomes Volatile: The Case of Jewish Voters in Britain

Barclay

2020

Politics and Religion

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The political preferences of Britain's Jewish community, as well as the factors which underpin them, have been historically under-researched. This paper addresses this both empirically and conceptually. The study complements emerging evidence by showing that British Jews overwhelmingly support the Conservatives, but also employs longitudinal data for the first time to show that this association has strengthened sharply over recent election cycles. These findings highlight how existing theories of the effects of religious belonging on voting struggle to explain religious groups with volatile partisan preferences, such as British Jews. The paper therefore makes the case that the mechanism of party support should be understood differently in such cases. To this end, the findings presented here are consistent with the notion that security for Jews acts as a group utility heuristic, which leads voters to reward parties on the basis of how they are judged in prioritising security for Jews.

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The Foundations of American Jewish Liberalism

Cited by 17 publications

References 111 publications

Is Criticism Disloyal? American Jews' Attitudes toward Israel

Is Criticism Disloyal? American Jews' Attitudes toward Israel

Coping with Cross‐Pressures: The Seamless Garment in Catholic Political Behavior

When Religious Voting Becomes Volatile: The Case of Jewish Voters in Britain

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