Polarization and American Jews: The Partisan Debate Over Attribution of Blame and Responsibility for Rising Anti‐Semitism in the United States

Amy B. Becker

Social Science Quarterly, 2020, vol. 101, issue 4, 1572-1583

Abstract: Objective The research considers the relative influence of political ideology and partisan vote choice on perceptions of Democratic versus Republican responsibility for the level of anti‐Semitism in the United States and the perception of anti‐Semitic threat posed by the extreme political right versus the extreme political left. Methods Analysis of data from the American Jewish Committee's 2019 American Jewish Attitudes About Anti‐Semitism Survey (N = 1,283 Jewish Americans ages 18+). Results Hierarchical OLS regression shows that attributions of Democratic versus Republican blame or responsibility for anti‐Semitism and perceptions of threat are primarily explained by political ideology and partisan vote choice over and above awareness, engagement, or personal experience with anti‐Semitism. Conclusion The implications of the findings are considered in light of the contemporary political context shaped by Donald Trump's December 2019 “Executive Order on Combating Anti‐Semitism,” the rise of anti‐Semitic violence in the United States, and the increasing support for the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement.

Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12829

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:101:y:2020:i:4:p:1572-1583

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0038-4941

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry

More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().