Kenneth D. Wald

How did Republicans manage to hold the White House through much of the past half century even as the Democratic Party held the hearts of most American voters? The authors of this groundbreaking study argue that they did so by doing what Democrats have also excelled at: triggering psychological mechanisms that deepen cultural divisions in the other party's coalition, thereby leading many of its voters either to choose the opposing ticket or to stay home. The Politics of Cultural Differences is the first book to develop and carefully test a general theory of cultural politics in the United States, one that offers a compelling new perspective on America's changing political order and political conflict in the post-New Deal period (1960-1996). David Leege, Kenneth Wald, Brian Krueger, and Paul Mueller move beyond existing scholarship by formulating a theory of campaign strategies that emphasizes cultural conflict regarding patriotism, race, gender, and religion. Drawing on National Election Studies data, they find that Republican politicians deployed powerful symbols (e.g., "tax and spend liberals") to channel targeted voters toward the minority party. And as partisanship approached parity in the 1990s, Democratic leaders proved as adept at deploying their own symbols, such as "a woman's right to choose," to disassemble the Republican coalition. A blend of sophisticated theory and advanced empirical tools, this book lays bare the cultural dimensions of American political life.

Using an evidence-based, social-scientific approach to religion, Kenneth D. Wald and Elizabeth Oldmixon challenge the perception that religious influence in American politics is a problem to be solved. Instead, they contend that religion is a form of social identification that not only shapes our ideas about politics, but it also shapes the behavior of political elites and ordinary citizens, the interpretation of public laws, and the development of government programs. Ultimately, the authors show how religion plays a fascinating and crucial role in our nation's political process and in our culture at large.

Using an evidence-based, social-scientific approach to religion, Kenneth D. Wald and Elizabeth Oldmixon challenge the perception that religious influence in American politics is a problem to be solved. Instead, they contend that religion is a form of social identification that not only shapes our ideas about politics, but it also shapes the behavior of political elites and ordinary citizens, the interpretation of public laws, and the development of government programs. Ultimately, the authors show how religion plays a fascinating and crucial role in our nation's political process and in our culture at large.

The author's German-born parents seldom spoke of the Holocaust but a monochrome portrait in the dining room hinted at a connection to a dark past. After his father's death, a chance discovery lifts the veil of silence, revealing the two ghosts in the photo not as hapless victims but as grandparents who would have loved him had they not been murdered in a concentration camp. Theirs is a tale of unfathomable loss and a race against time but also of quiet resistance and resilience that would shape his parents' lives-and his own-in ways he could never have understood. What redeems this tragedy, is the element of rebirth. As he painstakingly reconstructed his Jewish grandparents' perilous existence after the Nazis stole everything from them, three men in his father's hometown enlisted him in their effort to right the historical wrong visited on the Sch nwald family decades ago. Joining forces, the activists and the author provide his grandparents an afterlife, as it were, denied to millions of forgotten Holocaust victims.

The author's German-born parents seldom spoke of the Holocaust but a monochrome portrait in the dining room hinted at a connection to a dark past. After his father's death, a chance discovery lifts the veil of silence, revealing the two ghosts in the photo not as hapless victims but as grandparents who would have loved him had they not been murdered in a concentration camp. Theirs is a tale of unfathomable loss and a race against time but also of quiet resistance and resilience that would shape his parents' lives-and his own-in ways he could never have understood. What redeems this tragedy, is the element of rebirth. As he painstakingly reconstructed his Jewish grandparents' perilous existence after the Nazis stole everything from them, three men in his father's hometown enlisted him in their effort to right the historical wrong visited on the Sch nwald family decades ago. Joining forces, the activists and the author provide his grandparents an afterlife, as it were, denied to millions of forgotten Holocaust victims.

American Jews have built a political culture based on the principle of equal citizenship in a secular state. This durable worldview has guided their political behavior from the founding to the present day. In The Foundations of American Jewish Liberalism, Kenneth D. Wald traces the development of this culture by examining the controversies and threats that stimulated political participation by American Jews. Wald shows that the American political environment, permeated by classic liberal values, produced a Jewish community that differs politically from non-Jews who resemble Jews socially and from Jewish communities abroad. Drawing on survey data and extensive archival research, the book examines the ups and downs of Jewish attachment to liberalism and the Democratic Party and the tensions between two distinct strains of liberalism.

American Jews have built a political culture based on the principle of equal citizenship in a secular state. This durable worldview has guided their political behavior from the founding to the present day. In The Foundations of American Jewish Liberalism, Kenneth D. Wald traces the development of this culture by examining the controversies and threats that stimulated political participation by American Jews. Wald shows that the American political environment, permeated by classic liberal values, produced a Jewish community that differs politically from non-Jews who resemble Jews socially and from Jewish communities abroad. Drawing on survey data and extensive archival research, the book examines the ups and downs of Jewish attachment to liberalism and the Democratic Party and the tensions between two distinct strains of liberalism.

Using an evidenced-based, social-scientific approach to religion, Kenneth D. Wald and Allison Calhoun-Brown challenge the perception that religious influence in American politics is a problem to be solved. Instead, they contend that religion is a form of social identification that not only shapes our ideas about politics, but it also shapes the behavior of political elites and ordinary citizens, the interpretation of public laws, and the development of government programs. Ultimately, the authors show how religion plays a fascinating and crucial role in our nation’s political process and in our culture at large. The eighth edition of Religion and Politics in the United States has been fully updated to include the latest scholarship and coverage of the 2016 presidential election. It also features a new discussion of the religious right, center, and left, as well as the impact of religion on the fight for equality based on gender and sexual orientation. Additional student resources include all new discussion questions and further readings at the end of each chapter, as well as a companion website featuring self-quizzes.

Using an evidenced-based, social-scientific approach to religion, Kenneth D. Wald and Allison Calhoun-Brown challenge the perception that religious influence in American politics is a problem to be solved. Instead, they contend that religion is a form of social identification that not only shapes our ideas about politics, but it also shapes the behavior of political elites and ordinary citizens, the interpretation of public laws, and the development of government programs. Ultimately, the authors show how religion plays a fascinating and crucial role in our nation’s political process and in our culture at large. The eighth edition of Religion and Politics in the United States has been fully updated to include the latest scholarship and coverage of the 2016 presidential election. It also features a new discussion of the religious right, center, and left, as well as the impact of religion on the fight for equality based on gender and sexual orientation. Additional student resources include all new discussion questions and further readings at the end of each chapter, as well as a companion website featuring self-quizzes.

In an exploration of mass voter alignments in Great Britain, Kenneth D. Wald illuminates the electoral consequences of major social divisions and the relationship between social structure and partisanship. He establishes that the transition from religion to social class as the chief influence on British voting occurred after World War I, as most scholars have presumed, rather than before the War, as a number of recent revisionist discussions have claimed. Originally published in 1983. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In an exploration of mass voter alignments in Great Britain, Kenneth D. Wald illuminates the electoral consequences of major social divisions and the relationship between social structure and partisanship. He establishes that the transition from religion to social class as the chief influence on British voting occurred after World War I, as most scholars have presumed, rather than before the War, as a number of recent revisionist discussions have claimed. Originally published in 1983. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.