Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Immigration and the American Ethos
  • Cited by 30
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      25 January 2020
      02 January 2020
      ISBN:
      9781108772174
      9781108488815
      9781108738873
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108772174
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.52kg, 254 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.45kg, 254 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Area Studies, American Studies, American Government, Politics and Policy, Politics and International Relations, Psychology: General Interest
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    Area Studies, American Studies, American Government, Politics and Policy, Politics and International Relations, Psychology: General Interest
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology
    Information

    Book description

    What do Americans want from immigration policy and why? In the rise of a polarized and acrimonious immigration debate, leading accounts see racial anxieties and disputes over the meaning of American nationhood coming to a head. The resurgence of parochial identities has breathed new life into old worries about the vulnerability of the American Creed. This book tells a different story, one in which creedal values remain hard at work in shaping ordinary Americans' judgements about immigration. Levy and Wright show that perceptions of civic fairness - based on multiple, often competing values deeply rooted in the country's political culture - are the dominant guideposts by which most Americans navigate immigration controversies most of the time and explain why so many Americans simultaneously hold a mix of pro-immigrant and anti-immigrant positions. The authors test the relevance and force of the theory over time and across issue domains.

    Reviews

    'In recent years, immigration has become a front-burner political issue in the US. A growing body of research argues that Americans' attitudes about immigration are fundamentally about their views on different ethnic and racial groups, but in this far-reaching and illuminating book, Levy and Wright provide a sweeping challenge to group-oriented accounts of public opinion on immigration and demonstrate convincingly that values play a central role. This book methodically builds a timely, compelling alternative to group-centered accounts of attitudes, one that will reshape how scholars and citizens alike think about immigration and public opinion in general.'

    Daniel J. Hopkins - University of Pennsylvania

    'In this theoretically subtle and carefully crafted empirical work, Levy and Wright advance a more complete analysis of Americans’ immigration attitudes than is common in scholarship and public discourse. They make important, provocative, even controversial, claims: ‘ideas’ or ideals often trump ‘interests’ in attitudes toward immigrants and ‘civic fairness’ is as (or more) important than group-centrism. This is a significant contribution that deeply informs and challenges our understanding of enduring issues in American politics.'

    Rodney E. Hero - Arizona State University

    'This book provides crucial new evidence that helps explain Americans' complex opinions on immigration.'

    John Sides - Vanderbilt University

    ‘The book is extensively researched and the authors' contentions are well founded …’

    R. F. Zeidel Source: Choice

    ‘Immigration and the American Ethos is a must-read.’

    Tom K. Wong Source: American Politics

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents
    References

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the HTML of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.