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21st Century Americanism: What it is and where it comes from
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21
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Century Americanism: What it is and where it comes from
Deborah Schildkraut
Department of Political Science
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155
deborah.## email not listed ##
Abstract: In this paper, I develop measures that assess the extent to which the multiple conceptions of American identity that exist in theory and in elite discourse are endorsed by ordinary Americans. I find that a much broader range of conceptions of how Americans define being American exists than has traditionally been examined in public opinion research. A complex, messy, and often contradictory set of definitions exist, and it is difficult to reduce these definitions to compact, neatly demarcated scales. Additionally, I show that some of the concerns of immigration critics are somewhat overblown. Most Americans, regardless of their ethnic or immigrant background, share this messy and contradictory understanding of what being American means. That said, there are possible seeds of future divergence that we should continue to investigate. The measures developed here provide more appropriate tools than we had previously that we can use to study the consequences that different understandings of American national identity have on controversial policy debates. Prepared for delivery at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 1 - September 4, 2005. Copyright by the American Political Science Association.
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| | Authors: Schildkraut, Deborah. |
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21
st
Century Americanism: What it is and where it comes from
Deborah Schildkraut
Department of Political Science
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155
deborah.## email not listed ##
Abstract:
In this paper, I develop measures that assess the extent to which the multiple conceptions of
American identity that exist in theory and in elite discourse are endorsed by ordinary Americans.
I find that a much broader range of conceptions of how Americans define being American exists
than has traditionally been examined in public opinion research. A complex, messy, and often
contradictory set of definitions exist, and it is difficult to reduce these definitions to compact,
neatly demarcated scales. Additionally, I show that some of the concerns of immigration critics
are somewhat overblown. Most Americans, regardless of their ethnic or immigrant background,
share this messy and contradictory understanding of what being American means. That said,
there are possible seeds of future divergence that we should continue to investigate. The
measures developed here provide more appropriate tools than we had previously that we can use
to study the consequences that different understandings of American national identity have on
controversial policy debates.
Prepared for delivery at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association,
September 1 - September 4, 2005. Copyright by the American Political Science Association.
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