Who Are We?

1. Who Are We? • American define themselves by a number of characteristics, each of which may influence how they vote or think about various candidates, issues, or policies.

2. Who We Are: Race and Ethnicity • African Americans • Asian Americans • Native Americans • Hispanics (Latinos) Race A grouping of human beings with distinctive characteristics determined by genetic inheritance • Ethnicity • A social division based on national origin, religion, language, and often race (ex: Italian Americans)

3. The numbers • African Americans in the US = 13% of the population • Asian Americans = 4% of the population • Native Americans = 1% of the population • American Hispanics classify themselves as white, although Hispanics can be of any race • They are the fastest growing ethnic group • 41 million American Hispanics (14% of population)

4. Who We Are: African Americans Most African Americans came to this country against their will Most continue to be more vulnerable economically than whites Most have lower educational levels than whites Little political power until after WWII Historic victory of Barack Obama in 2008

5. African American Economic Condition • Today 22% of African Americans live below poverty level • Average wealth is only one tenth of that of whites • Median net worth of Hispanics is slightly more than African Americans • Average income is lowest • Less likely to have the savings to help a child pay for college Median Net Worth of Households in the U.S. by Race, 2000

6. High risks • African American population is also much younger than the white population • Low Education • Concentration in economically depressed areas • These are lead to unemployment • This then causes greater social problems: Crime, Drug & alcohol abuse, & Family violence

7. Successful African Americans • Few, such as Shaquille O’Neal & Oprah Winfrey, have risen to the top of their professions in terms of earnings • Middle-class African Americans are slowly growing in number • 18% of African Americans graduate from college (compared to 28% of whites)

8. African Americans • Although the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment ended slavery in the 1860s, racial divisions still affect American politics • 55% of them live in Southern States today

9. Switch in Party loyalty • After 1860, many African Americans had considered themselves Republican under Lincoln, but changed to Democrats after Franklin Roosevelt

10. How do African Americans vote today? • After WW2, African Americans came to see the Democrats as the party of civil rights • Virtually all African Americans voted for LBJ in between 1984 & 2004, 86% voted Democratic

11. Hispanics (Latinos) • Share a common linguistic heritage in Spanish • Not a monolithic group because they consider themselves diverse because it depends on which country they emigrated from (ex. Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican all separate identity) • Because they are not homogenous, they are not a united voting bloc

12. Cuban Americans vs. Mexican & Puerto Ricans • Cuban Americans mainly live in Florida, especially in Miami • Mainland Puerto Ricans mainly live in New York City • Mexican Americans mainly live in the Southwest and California • Cuban Americans earn $50,000 or more than mainland Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans

13. How do Hispanics tend to vote? • Cuban Americans tend to be Republican • Mexican Americans & Puerto Ricans tend to be Democrats

14. Disunity of Hispanics • Although America’s Hispanic population grew by 58%, many of them do not participate in politics • This has been attributed to: • Redistricting • Low rates of citizenship (many are here illegally & many are minors) • Lack of motivations for voting (many cannot speak English) • Lack of common party commitment (Neither Democrats or Republican parties have effectively mobilized them)

15. Asian American • They are not a monolithic group either (Chinese, Korean, Japanese Americans) • They have done well both economically and educationally

16. 13 million Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders • Resides mostly in western states, especially Hawaii, California, & Washington • 1970s & 1980s migration included immigrants from China, South Korea, India, Philippines, Vietnam

17. How do they vote? • Japanese Americans are more likely to register as Democrats than Korean Americans or other Asian Americans • Japanese Americans are also more likely to vote than other Asian ethnic groups • Possible reasons: • Vast majority of Asian American culture like the idea of working hard for what you get. • Asian American culture emphasize the family unit before the individual, which parallels with conservative’s voice: “Do not do anything to upset the community.” • Japanese American internment during WW2 made them want to be more politically active in the government (civil rights)

18. The Ties of Ethnicity • Almost all Americans have immigrant ancestors. • Most of them goes through a process: • Flight from their homeland • Make happy arrival here, • Discrimination, exploitation, residential clustering • The formation of strong group identity • Today there are more foreign-born people in the US than ever before

19. Who We Are: Gender • Women received the right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment

20. Who We Are: Gender • For the past 12 years, slightly more women than men have voted in presidential elections • There is no significant difference between the genders in rates of voting in mid term elections • Because there are more women than men, they are more potential female than male voters

21. Gender gap: The difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and of women Gender and the Vote for President, 2008

22. Gender • 2004: women comprised of 54% of all voters and had a 3% higher turnout rate • Women do not overwhelmingly support female candidates • Women tend to vote by political parties

23. How do they vote? • In recent elections, women have been more likely than men to vote for Democratic presidential candidates • More likely to oppose violence (death penalty, new biological weapons) • More likely to be compassionate • More likely to favor government that provides health insurance and family services • Seek equal opportunity in education, jobs, skills, and respect (women today still receive less money than men for performing the same jobs – 77 cents to the dollar)

24. Who We Are: Sexual Orientation • Involves Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transsexuals have fought to end discrimination and backlash

25. The homosexual community • Have become important politically in several cities, notably San Francisco • Both political parties have openly professed gay members of Congress • The following states allow marriages for same sex couples: • Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, & Washington DC Barney Frank, Mass-D

26. Backlash Against the Gay Community • Bill Clinton’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy • Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996: • Excludes same-sex spouses from federal benefits • 2000: the Supreme Court ruled that homosexuals could not take on leadership positions in the Boy Scouts • 2003: Supreme Court approved of laws against sodomy

27. How do they vote? • Most gays/lesbians/bisexuals/transsexuals tend to vote liberally • Advocate eliminating restrictions based on sexual orientations • Push for laws that ban hate crimes against gays and lesbians

28. Who We Are: Family Structure • Marriage: • From 1996 to 2002, the number of U.S. adults who live with someone of the opposite sex without being married increased by 50 percent • The divorce rate has nearly doubled since 1950 • Americans are much more likely to approve of premarital sex than they did in the early 1970s • People also now marry later

29. Birthrates • Have been falling for decades • Contraception is widely used and accepted, yet over 1/3 of all births now occur to unmarried women

30. Family Structure • The idea of a traditional family has dramatically changed over the years. • The need to have a traditional family structure may play a role in voting behavior. • Those that still believe in the more traditional ideas would vote more Republican, conservative. • Whereas those that agree with less traditional households would vote more Democratic, liberal.

31. Who We Are: Religion

32. Who We Are: Religion • Constitution • Separation of church and state • Protection of religious freedom • Still, America is a very religious country, and religion has had a large influence on politics

33. Politicians often refer to God in their speeches or demonstrate their piety • 2000 Democratic Vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman (a Jew) frequently mentioned God and religion in his speeches • Bush finished his 2004 State of the Union Address with “May God Bless America”

34. Sometimes a candidate’s religion can become an issue • At one time, it was thought that a Catholic could not be elected president • “I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic party’s candidate for President who happens to be also Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak to me.” - JFK

35. Growth of Fundamentalists • Today, Christian fundamentalists support an ultra conservative agenda • Return of school prayer • Restrictions on homosexuals • Opposition to gun control • Opposition to teaching evolution in public schools • Formation of Christian Coalition groups • Conservative Christians who as a group have become more active in politics and were especially influential in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections Jerry Falwell, an Evangelical

36. Religious groups in America • Catholics • Make up about one quarter of the U.S population, yet they make up more than 50 percent of the population of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. • Baptists • Represent 19% of the U.S population, yet they account for more than 50% of the population of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. • Mormons • Represent only 2 percent of the U.S population but more than 70% of the population of Utah. • The South is most 61% Protestant • The state of New York has the highest percentage of Jews, 7% • New York City is 14% Jewish.

37. How do they vote? • In recent presidential elections, most Protestants voted Republican • Most Catholics and Jews vote Democratic • Nearly 54% of Jewish adults are college graduates • In 2000, 79% of Jews voted for Al Gore (his VP candidate was Lieberman, a Jew) • In 2004, 75% of Jews voted for John Kerry, a Catholic • The Catholics were divided in 2004 because Bush received a majority of the Catholic vote • John Kerry is Catholic but Bush’s platform was more conservative in traditional values, so they voted for Bush instead

38. Inflation-adjusted income has gone up and down. Why? Who We Are: Wealth and Income * Higher energy costs * Low levels of personal savings * Worldwide slowdown in productivity The income of the bottom 10% of the population has actually declined while the income of the top 10% has grown substantially.

39. Wealth vs. Income • Wealth (total value of possessions) is more concentrated than Income (annual earnings) • The wealthiest families hold most of the property and other forms of wealth like stocks and savings.

40. Most college students come from the top quarter of American families in income • Education is in turn one of the most important means to achieve upward economic and social mobility. • People who go to college earn more than those who have not, and those from wealthier families are more inclined to get an education at nearly twice the rate as those positioned elsewhere on the socioeconomic ladder.

41. How do they vote? • Poor people vote less than rich people because they are less confident and organized dealing with politics and government. • If they do vote, they tend to vote liberal • People who need the most help from government are the least likely to participate. • They are the most likely to favor social welfare programs • Wealthier people tend to vote conservative

42. Who We Are: Occupation We are now in what Daniel Bell labels the “postindustrial” phase of our development Knowledge is the organizing device of the postindustrial era

43. Occupation • White collar workers: professional workers • Managers, accountants, and lawyers • Professionals and technicians in computers, communications, finance, insurance, & research • Blue collar workers: manual labor workers • Construction workers, teachers, miners, clergy

44. How do they vote? • White collar workers tend to be Republicans. • Blue collar workers tend to be Democrats.

45. Who We Are: Social Class Most Americans, when asked what class they belong to, say “middle class.” Very few see themselves as lower class or upper class

46. Socioeconomic Status (SEC) • SES is a division of the population based on occupation, income, and education

47. Americans are living longer! This is called the “graying of America” Who We Are: Age What trend do you notice about the American population? Percent of Population Over the Age of 65, 1900-2000

48. How Do Elder People Vote? • Most people over 65 vote liberal • Increased demand for medical care, retirement benefits and a host of other age-related services • People over the age of 65 make up less than 13% of the population yet account for more than 26% of the total medical expenditures • There has also been a decrease in birthrates in America • Old Americans tend to fight for the protection of Social Security. • They value Medicare and favor prescription drug coverage. • They also favor tax cuts.

49. Life cycle Effects • YOUNG PEOPLE: More mobile, less concerned about delivery of government services • MIDDLE AGED PEOPLE: Become more politically conservative, less mobile, and more likely to participate in politics • ELDERLY: As they age further and rely more on the government, they tend to grow more liberal

50. Generational Effects • Arises when a particular generation has had experiences that make it politically distinct • Ex: People who lived through the Great Depression or the Baby Boomers