Political Identity (Week 9-14) Flashcards
What is political identity
Political scientists are interested in group identities. More so how political identities impact behavior, and even more how behavior depends on other peoples identities
Different Identities
1) ethnicity: visible, race, hair, skin
2) Religion (personal) : Not always visible, only sometimes
3) Nationality: Depends on other identities and is inherently political.
Variation in identities
1) the nominal (groups) people belong to
2) The level of diversity in that group
3) Strength of identification of that group
4) Tolerance, do you tolerate another group
5) Support for identity based on political movements
WEIRD World Stands out for:
relious and religously diverse, but not very natioinalist and ethnically intolerant.
How are identities created: theories
Constructivist: The idea that identity is based on fact and is somewhat fixed.
Allows for identity to become the dependent variable
which identity is activated is based on choices.
But there is also the primordialism: Identity is fixed, the identity you are born with is the one you will forever have.
Gellener on the Emergence of Nations
What is a nation:
In order for there to be a nation people must:
1) Have a shared group/identity such as religion.
2) But that is not enough, shared identity is not enough. People NEED to believe that they deserve their own state, their own governing body over them.
Pushes back on nationalism, the fact that their nation has always existed.
Nationalism as a Political Tool: Gellener uses nationalism to:
create a sense of identity
create sense of attachment with ruling class
How nationalism creates a :we”
social identity theory:
value attachments to group,
part of pride and self esteem
we care for an in group member support them
labeling people as community soothes us
social identities helps during crisis
psychological soothing a feeling of belonging
ego boost
solves collective action problems when distrust is presentH
Hierro and Rico: effects on economy of nationalism
assign frames (wording to control who is at fault and who they blame for crises)
asses impact on nationalism on people with low SES in Spain
1) pride
2) nationalism
3) identification
results:
after looking at people with low SES having the option to blame the EU made them feel better about being Spanish, they now have a reason to know why they are poor.
rich people did not care because they are rich, but poor people did because they have someone to blame other than Spain.
Social identities and Boundaries
group identities invade boundaries with national identity, boundaries are clear because they are legal.
Sarah Goodman: Variation in WEIRD policies of immigrant intergration
not interested in cross sectional, but under what conditions do countries become liberal?
she looked at her DV: Membership requirements and her IV’s: existing citizenship policy and political pressure to change policies.
results: germany from restrictive to liberal
UK liberal to restrictive
Where do Goodmans IV”s come from?
voter prefereces.
there are different reasons for immigration policies to change:
a) political rhetorical
b) politics responds to voter preference’s
c) politics responsive to overall culture
d) no connection
Kristina Simonsen: okay but, how do we draw these national boundaries? How do natives think of national inclusion?
2 views:
ascriptive: things we are born with: religion, skin, birthplace
attainable: what you can do to learn: language, citizenship
results: immigrants sense of belonging depends on how the people in that country perceive immigrants, integration policies do not matter.
1) History matters no matter what
2) natives opinions matter
3) policies dont
Out group attitudes
2 stances:
opinions are fixed since birth
opinions can be shifted
Theories
contact theory: contact w out groups improve their relationship
vs conflict theory : contact w out group worsens
Jonathan Hamola and Margi Tavits: Heterogenous effects of contact
not that contact is good or bad, but that contact work for some people but not others (conditional effects)
conditionality of contact depends on political views: Used interaction model
1) Contact (IV)
2) measure of peoples ideology
3) interact both variables
results: show that when republicans and democrats are shown, whether or not republicans have contact they are still threatens by immigrants vs
democrats with contact, no threat, but with contact even lesser of a threat
Religion as an identity
religion binds us to similar minded people, and similar social identity
religion is personal where as nationalism is political
beliefs are shaped by our environment and we eventually chose our religious identity
Politics of Religion
how policies shape role of religion
how peoples political and social lives influence their policy preference
Religion into politics: 2 Dimensions
preferences on economic policy,
preferences over social liberties policy
How can religion influence someone?
religion does influence voters preference because religion offers security and creates community, so if one is going through hardships we dont need the government because we know that the church is there.
Religion as an Opiate of the Masses
Marx describes this as the lulls of people into submission
you just sit there and pray, and not actually do anything about the things you want.
