Ethnicity and Religion in Philadelphia Politics, 1924-40

Abstract

HISTORIANS AND POLITICAL SCIENTISTS HAVE ONLY RECENTLY COME to recognize something that was always apparent to grass-roots politicians: a voter's ethnic and religious affiliation is an important determinant of how he casts his ballot. The major substantive fruit of the behavioral revolution that is slowly overtaking American political history has been the discovery of cultural roots in voting behavior and a downgrading of economic, class and sectional interpretations. Lee Benson in a seminal study of New York during the Jacksonian period found that the stand of parties on socioeconomic issues had relatively little effect upon bloc voting; far more important were factors that stimulated reference group associations, both positive and negative. Pious Yankees, for example, were attracted to WhigAnti-Masonic appeals for state guided moral reforms; Irish Catholics were hostile.' In complementary studies of the political realignment of the 1890s, Paul Kleppner and Richard Jensen2 pursued the main thrust of Benson's reference group analysis to discover that the polarization of important segments of the voting population of selected Midwestern states between those of pietistic religious bent (Methodists and Baptists) against those of more ritualistic orientation (e.g., Catholics and Lutherans) was a major force in sustaining the political stalemate that prevailed until the 90s. The political vacillation that accompanied the realignment resulted from the shifting of party allegiance of critical blocs, particularly the German Lutherans, in response to cultural issues but little related to national political debates or