Why are Jewish Americans so liberal?

[ChelseaT]

Well?

[Strudelcutie4427]

probably colleges and the fact that most of them live in or near big cities

[Crumpets]

Two answers:

One is that much anti-Semitism is most often based in nationalism, and there's pretty much no disputing that the Republicans are the more nationalist of the two parties, while the Democrats promote a more inclusive view of what it means to be an American. This could change, though, looking at the UK. I haven't seen any polling about the partisan breakdown of British Jews, but I wouldn't be surprised if in the Corbyn era, there are fewer identifying with the Labour Party - someone should double-check me on that.

Two is that it really depends on what kind of Jewish Americans you're talking about. Adherents to more liberal sects of Judaism, such as Reform Judaism are going to be more liberal than adherents of more conservative sects such as Hasidic Judaism. It just so happens that there are many, many more adherents of the more liberal sects than the conservative sects in the United States.

Note: most of this was explained to me by two Jewish friends of mine who are both themselves very liberal, so it might not be the most objective explanation.

[Tartarus Sauce]

The roots of American Jewish liberalism is found in the rise of Reform Judaism in Europe during the 19th century. Starting with France in the 1790s, European countries began, one by one, granting political equality and equal citizenship privileges to Jews over the next century, opening up avenues of political participation that had been closed off for hundreds of years. Many Jews decided to adopt less strict religious adherence practices in order to more effectively participate within the broader civil society and adopt new national identities. As Jews poured into the US around the turn of the 20th century like so many other immigrants of European origin, they brought these more liberal practices with them.

Originally swing voters, Jews became an overwhelmingly Democratic voting bloc starting with FDR and the rise of the New Deal. This shift was driven mostly by liberal economic policy, which coincided with vital support Jewish activists provided the labor movement in the early 20th century. Jews have mostly stayed Democratic because the Democratic Party's platform is basically a mirror image of liberal Jewish branches' social values. Reconstructionist, Reform, and even Conservative Jews prioritize education, political secularism, racial/ethnic inclusiveness, and individual autonomy. Jewish activists have been at the forefront of just about every liberal cause for the past half century, from civil rights, to abortion, to gay rights; you name it, liberal Jews have been a part of it.

Many of us couldn't care less about Israel; we assume they can handle their own problems and that America will be there if sh!t really hits the fan, plus many of us aren't terribly fond of Bibi's West Bank policy. We're also bitterly opposed to just about every aspect of the politics of Evangelical Christians, the main detractor of the Republican Party for us. We abhor nativist reactionism and consider religious intrusion into the civil domain to be deeply anathema to our core beliefs. So long as the Republican Party continues to identify itself as the party of reactionary White Christian grievances, we'll always give at least two thirds of our support to the Democrats. The majority of Jews in America are simply too secular, cosmopolitan, and liberal in orientation to find the GOP palatable, no matter how much they try to woo us with talk about fiscal responsibility or Israeli guardianship.

[136or142]

Many Jews in Canada have swung to the Conservatives after the Conservatives essentially offered blind support to Benjamin Netanyahu.

[Tekken_Guy]

As of lately, I think Jewish liberalism has to do more with their demographical makeup aligning with the Democratic Party, or at the very least the Trump disapproval base (i.e. Being well-educated, affluent, living in urban or suburban areas like NYC, LA, DC, Miami), than their actual Jewish religious beliefs. Their politics are more of just a coincidence than anything else. Jews who tend to be more religious and/or have a blue-collar background tend to be conservative; it's just that there's relatively few of them in America.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

I'm jewish and I honestly don't understand it either. I think it has to do with the culture war GOP and the radical religious right.

[Torie]

If you adjust for class,  degree of secularization, and the population density of where people live, I suspect the political gap between Jews and gentiles has narrowed substantially from what it was when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Back then upper middle class gentiles (WASP's in particular) correcting for these factors were Pub in general, and Jews Dems. That is far less true now. Hey, I helped narrow the gap in recent years. My parents were Pub. I am quite confident that if they were alive, they would not be now. The issues that divide have fundamentally changed.

[darklordoftech]

Jewish Americans have been reliably Democratic since Al Smith.

[King of Kensington]

The religious right and hyper-Christian nationalism and anti-intellectualism of the GOP plays a big role. That's more relevant than the New Deal at this point I think.

As for Israel, while the hard right supporters of Israel vote GOP, the Democrats are pro-Israel enough for more centrist and center-left Jews that are pro-Israel. 

[King of Kensington]

Many Jews in Canada have swung to the Conservatives after the Conservatives essentially offered blind support to Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Conservatives did well among Asian voters also.  Partisan loyalties are much less "fixed" in Canada and the perception that religious right and anti-immigrant types "dominate" the Conservative Party is less pronounced (when Harper had a majority he didn't really do much social conservative stuff or drastically cut immigration etc.).

Plus, Toronto and Montreal make up about 80% of Canadian Jewry so the immigrant/Orthodox element is a larger share of the Jewish population (if NY/NJ made up 80% of US Jewry it would be less "liberal.") But you'll find your stereotypical liberal Jews living in St. Paul's, University-Rosedale, Westmount etc. as well. 

[mileslunn]

I think the fact many have faced discrimination and the fact the GOP seems to be more tolerant of that is part of the reason.  But probably the biggest one is just where the Jews mostly live.  Most tend to live in large metropolitan areas which generally vote Democrat.  As king of Kensington mentioned Canada is more mixed but I've found your more liberal Jews in places like Toronto-St. Paul's or Westmount tend to go Liberal, but when you get out into the suburban areas like York Centre, Eglinton-Lawrence, Mount Royal, and especially Thornhill, the Tories do tend to do a lot better.

Now in the UK it is the opposite as Jews tend to vote quite heavily conservative, especially since Corbyn became leader.  A lot of that is due to anti-semitism in the Labour Party especially from its more left wing.

[King of Kensington]

As king of Kensington mentioned Canada is more mixed but I've found your more liberal Jews in places like Toronto-St. Paul's or Westmount tend to go Liberal, but when you get out into the suburban areas like York Centre, Eglinton-Lawrence, Mount Royal, and especially Thornhill, the Tories do tend to do a lot better.

Not only are these ridings "suburban" but they also have a lot of Orthodox, traditional and immigrant Jews and not that many Reform Jews and secular left-liberal types.

[King of Kensington]

I found this interesting.  I think 4 of the 5 types of Jewish voter can be found in Canada and Britain as well.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=207425.msg4488101#msg4488101

[Oryxslayer]

I found this interesting.  I think 4 of the 5 types of Jewish voter can be found in Canada and Britain as well.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=207425.msg4488101#msg4488101

Yep, and the last one on the list is probably the largest of the groups, since a majority of US Jews live either in the Acela corridor or in the Miami/LA/Bay Area metro trio.

As someone who probably identifies with this group I can probably give a little insight into the mindset. There is a big emphasis on anti-discrimination, and the memory of us as a minority and the legacy of that horrible era. For example, during the mourners Kaddish, my synagog has the entire community stand after the individual names in honor of those who have nobody to stand for them/died in the holocaust. Sermons often talk about intolerance, and how the Jewish experience in the Torah relates rates to both us and other in modern day. So, policy wise, this group can probably be thought of having the mindset almost of minority voters, and a probably eternally loyal to the democrats.

[King of Kensington]

"Never again" and remembering the Holocaust can be given a "progressive" cast, but not necessarily so.

[King of Kensington]

If you adjust for class,  degree of secularization, and the population density of where people live, I suspect the political gap between Jews and gentiles has narrowed substantially from what it was when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Back then upper middle class gentiles (WASP's in particular) correcting for these factors were Pub in general, and Jews Dems. That is far less true now. Hey, I helped narrow the gap in recent years. My parents were Pub. I am quite confident that if they were alive, they would not be now. The issues that divide have fundamentally changed.

Yeah, I don't know if Jews in Chevy Chase or Chappaqua or Newton vote that differently from their non-Jewish neighbors.

[Tekken_Guy]

Yeah. I don't think that Jews living in the suburbs of Memphis or Kansas City vote the same way as those in NYC or DC. The Jews' loyalty to the Democrats honestly has little to do with their religious beliefs. nowadays.

[King of Kensington]

Not so sure about that, I would think that Jewish voting behavior is more "distinctive" in more conservative metros.  Also Jewish voters in the NYC area are likely to the right of Jews in the Midwest and South, given the high percentage of Orthodox/traditional/Russian Jews.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

I'd guess it's got something to do with neo-nazi groups/Holocaust deniers being seen as more right-wing than left-wing.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Why wouldn't they be so liberal? A lot of them (mostly very secular, working-class, immigrant ones, of course...) were socialists (and anarchists, Communists....) 100 years ago. I mean, come on.

[RFayette]

Why wouldn't they be so liberal? A lot of them (mostly very secular, working-class, immigrant ones, of course...) were socialists (and anarchists, Communists....) 100 years ago. I mean, come on.

[ilikeverin]

Why wouldn't they be so liberal? A lot of them (mostly very secular, working-class, immigrant ones, of course...) were socialists (and anarchists, Communists....) 100 years ago. I mean, come on.

I mean, North Dakota was once ruled by the avowedly socialist Nonpartisan League, but we're not still asking ourselves why North Dakota is so Democratic.