American Identity and the Politics of Multiculturalism

The civil rights movement and immigration reform transformed American politics in the mid-1960s. Demographic diversity and identity politics raised the challenge of e pluribus unum anew, and multiculturalism emerged as a new ideological response to this dilemma. This book uses national public opinion data and public opinion data from Los Angeles to compare ethnic differences in patriotism and ethnic identity and ethnic differences in support for multicultural norms and group-conscious policies. The authors find evidence of strong patriotism among all groups and the classic pattern of assimilation among the new wave of immigrants. They argue that there is a consensus in rejecting harder forms of multiculturalism that insist on group rights but also a widespread acceptance of softer forms that are tolerant of cultural differences and do not challenge norms, such as by insisting on the primacy of English. There is little evidence of a link between strong group consciousness and a lack of patriotism, even in the most disadvantaged minority groups. The authors conclude that the United States is not breaking apart due to the new ethnic diversity.

Jack Citrin is Heller Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He currently serves as the director of the Institute of Governmental Studies and has previously served as the director of University of California Data and the acting director of the Survey Research Center. Among his publications are Tax Revolt: Something for Nothing in California (with David Sears, 1982), How Race, Immigration and Ethnicity are Shaping the California Electorate (2002), and Ethnic Context, Race Relations, and California Politics (with Bruce E. Cain and Cara Wong, 2000). His work has appeared in such journals as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Politics. Two of his articles have won prizes from the American Political Science Association. He is a founding member of the International Society of Political Psychology.

David O. Sears is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has twice been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has served as Dean of Social Sciences and as Director of the Institute for Social Science Research at UCLA. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been a Guggenheim Fellow and the president of the International Society of Political Psychology. Among his publications are Social Psychology (twelve editions), Obama's Race: The 2008 Election and the Dream of a Post-Racial America (2010), and more than 150 journal articles and book chapters on psychology and political science.