Ken Wald on the Puzzling Politics of American Jews

tonygill — Mon, 23 May 2011 08:00:19 +0000

Ken Wald, professor of political science at the University of Florida, presents us with three puzzles about Jewish political behavior in the United States: 1) Why are American Jews significantly more liberal than non-Jews who have the same socio-economic characteristics?; 2) Why are American Jews more liberal than their Jewish counterparts in other nations such as Australia, Great Britain, and Israel?; and 3) What accounts for the rightward ideological drift among American Jews during the 1970s and early 1980s, only to show a return towards more liberal political preferences in the late 1980s to present? We examine some common explanations for the first question, but Prof. Wald notes that these answers are not satisfying for explaining the latter two questions. He then suggests a historically-rooted explanation focusing on the minority status of Jews combined with the unique church-state relationship that developed during America’s founding (something not present in other nations). Ken then discusses how changes in the Democratic Party during the early 1970s affected Jewish political opinion. The rise of the Christian Right during the 1980s stopped the rightward drift of Jews as they became concerned with alterations to the historical church-state relations that they had favored. We conclude with comparisons to other minority religious groups in the US such as Mormons and Catholics, and finish with a bit of speculation as to where Jewish political opinion may be heading in the coming decade. Recorded: May 4, 2011.

Darin Mather on Evangelicals and Racial Attitudes

tonygill — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:00:14 +0000

Are white evangelical Christians becoming more tolerant of other races over time? Darin Mather — a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Minnesota — discusses his recent research on the topic, published in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. Mather finds that younger evangelicals — those born after 1957, the official “end” of the Baby Boom — demonstrate much more tolerant attitudes and greater racial solidarity with minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics. We discuss some of the reasons why the younger cohort is more tolerant, including greater contact with individuals of different races and ethnicities, as well as exposure to the ideas of toleration that permated the post-Civil Rights Movement. We have a fascinating discussion relating to relativism and examine whether toleration for other cultures necessarily means a change in (perhaps watering down of) one’s theological mindset. Younger evangelicals appear to accept cultural diversity so long as it is accompanies by an agreement on the basical laws of society. We also delve into the area of public policy, noting that younger evangelicals tend to be less supportive of affirmative action and economic assistance to historically disadvantaged communities. Mather offers several speculative ideas on why this might be the case, including the connection of evangelicalism to the South and the Republican Party. We finish with a brief discussion of Darin’s current dissertation research examining the differences between religious and secular education in Guatemala and the impact that has on equality of opportunity for young women. Recorded: March 7, 2011.

Research On Religion » affirmative action

Ken Wald on the Puzzling Politics of American Jews

Darin Mather on Evangelicals and Racial Attitudes