Why do US Jews vote Democrat? Here are six theories - opinion

Appearing before Jewish donors in New Jersey, former US president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that he had asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their recent meeting why Jews vote Democrat. Netanyahu replied, according to Trump, that it was out of habit. Indeed, over the past 100 years, except in 1980, a solid majority of American Jews have cast their ballots for the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.

Several explanations have been offered for this political preference. The first is historical. Liberal ideas have served the Jews well in the practical sense. Ever since the French Revolution, Jews have found their allies in liberal circles, as they had in circles of the radical socialist Left that developed in both Europe and the United States.

Given their Diasporic experience as guests in host societies, Jews realized that they could best advance under liberal regimes that allow achievement to determine social and economic mobility and ban discrimination by law. Moreover, given that liberalism also rests at the core of the American ethos, loyalty to its principles allows Jews to prove their full identification with the United States.

A second explanation sees the source of Jewish liberalism in religious values. Three basic principles connect Judaism with the social agenda: the study of canonical religious texts, which promote intellectualism and legitimize ideas of cultural relativism, universalism, and tolerance; charity, which in modern times may entail support for the welfare state, minority rights, and progressive taxation; and a this-world theological emphasis, which fosters activism and the desire to improve society (tikkun olam). 

The third explanation is sociological and suggests that the source of Jewish liberalism lies in the dissonance between the Jews’ high socioeconomic attainments and their limited social acceptance. This incongruity creates a feeling of marginality, which translates into support for liberal and even radical movements that challenge the social order and the cultural establishment that oppresses them. Over time, Jews have been accepted and integrated into the American mainstream with great success; nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of them believe that there is at least some extent of antisemitism in the country. Likewise, under certain circumstances, such as the Pollard affair or the more recent lifting of Iran sanctions, Jews are afraid of being accused of dual loyalty.

Jewish liberalism 

According to a fourth theory of Jews’ political socialization, Jews view pro-liberalism as a historic lesson that they pass on from one generation to another. This intergenerational transmission takes place through the family. It persists despite changes in the status of Jews in America, even though their socioeconomic interests may clash with a liberal worldview. 

The fifth theory is sociocultural. It interprets liberalism as the reaction of Jews who want the option of education and modernity but reject its implications. The source of Jewish liberalism lies in the values of those Jews who, while alienated from the religious tradition, find themselves interacting with other Jews – ­an interaction that plays an important role in their liberalism. The Jewish commitment is not to liberalism, which carries a message of internationalism, welfare-society policies, and civil liberties, but toward Enlightenment and the optimistic belief that human reason can create a good and progressive society divorced from religion.

A final theory places Jews’ political behavior within the frame of perceived Jewish political interests. These include micropolitical interests such as survival (especially the physical existence of the State of Israel), full participation in American social life, religious freedom, and economic interests corresponding to the Jews’ occupational structure, along with macropolitical interests of legislation and organization of the social order in a way that will allow the micropolitical interests to be sustained and realized. 

These factors will continue to guide Jews in the upcoming US presidential elections. It stands to reason, however, that Jews will give undue weight to considerations related to Israel. If so, Kamala Harris’s somewhat ambivalent statements about the current war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general may weaken American Jews’ support for her candidacy. As a counterweight, progressive Jews who may have considered not voting at all in these elections will now see Harris as a candidate who better reflects their critical views on Israel than Joe Biden does. In November, we will see what the power of political habit is. 

The writer is head of the Division of Jewish Demography at the Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he also holds the Shlomo Argov Chair in Israel-Diaspora Relations.