A Study On Jewish Political Participation And Its Cultural Roots In The United States

Less than6million, American Jews account for only2.3percent of the U.S. population. They were once marginalized and even ignored for a long time, now considered as a powerful ethnic group that wields profoundly influence on American society. History witnesses the prosperous course of Jews American. The fate of Jews in the United States seems not the same as the past. Jewish Americans, exiled for over two thousand years with strong spirits, strive for their survival in the New Land. Jewish politics is the hot issues in research.During the process of pursuing the rights as American citizens, American Jews have cultivated the political awareness and taken part proactively in politics and wielded significant impact on American political affairs. It is the image of disproportionate Jewish political power that makes research so intriguing. The impacts they exerted on is extraordinary prominent. The influence American Jews have made in the United States that elsewhere can hardly compared with.This unique political phenomenon is not coincident but closely connected with complex factors, including the economic, religious, social and cultural elements. The paper concentrates on the perspective of cultural causes for the Jewish political participation, trying to examine two levels of cultural roots---namely the internal cultural causes to prompt Jewish Americans to involve in politics and the external cultural atmosphere that provides a more liberal and tolerate culture climate for them to climb up the ladder of politics. The internal cultural roots mainly constitute of the Jewish strong cohesion, the Holocaust as acted a spur to awakening of their political consciousness and the spiritual of their political actions. For the external cultural roots, it examines the aspects of the political system of the United States which opens doors and opportunities for American Jews to engage in political issues, the weak anti-Semitic cultural climate and the acceptance of the mainstream white culture.The thesis holds that cultural causes play significant roles in Jewish political participation. One the one hand, American Jewish enthusiastic political practice and acts are embedded deeply in Jewish culture. Taken as the spiritual force in their political engagement, Jewish culture will definitely influence their political direction and future. On the other hand, the profound impact they have exerted on American politics links closely with the cultural environment of the United States. Its freedom and tolerant atmosphere cultivates the Jewish power in political arena.