Ajcongress Study Predicts U.S. Jews Will Maintain Political Influence Despite Drop in Numbers

The future political impact of American Jewry will depend more on the “perceptions and values” they pass along to American society than on their enthusiasm as voters and financial contributors to political campaigns, according to an American Jewish Congress study.

Despite a projected population decline in American Jewry, the study said it does not foresee any reduction in the Jewish community’s political effectiveness, noting that Jews vote and contribute to political campaigns in higher proportion than the general electorate.

The report, however, also underscored the importance of the Jewish community’s “high level of integration” in business and community life, thereby creating “circles of access and influence” that extend into the political arena.

The report, “The Political Future of American Jews,” was released yesterday by Theodore Mann, AJCongress president, at the National Domestic Policy Conference of the AJCongress’ leadership at the Shoreham Hotel here. The three day conference concluded yesterday.

COALITIONS INCREASE IMPACT

The report was prepared for the AJCongress by Earl Rabb, a community relations specialist, and Seymour Martin Lipset, a political sociologist at Stanford University. The report is one of a series of AJCongress-sponsored studies on the future role of American Jews.

The report also stated that joining in coalitions with other groups on issues of widespread concern such as social welfare, often “critically multiplies” the political impact of the Jewish community. Access to other groups, creating a basis for the establishment of coalition activities, has been aided through the high degree of Jewish integration into American society, the report said.

According to the report, this high degree of Jewish integration is reflected in the perception of Israel by a majority of Americans as a Western democracy politically similar and friendly to America.

“The basis for American support for Israel is the prevalent American perception that the support of Israel is important for American national interest,” the authors noted. That image, they noted, is strengthened by “the familiar and integrated social presence of the American Jews.”

MOVE FROM CITIES POSITIVE

The report said that contrary to accepted notions, the current Jewish dispersal from inner cities to the suburbs and smaller cities can have a positive effect on their political influence by bringing American Jewish activism to new centers of political power in small residential areas.

The financial contributions of Jews to political campaigns is also important in providing “access” to political candidates, the authors stated. On a national level, the report asserted that American Jews contribute more than a majority of the funds collected by the Democratic Party nationally and as much as a quarter of Republican funds.

Jewish contributions to political causes far beyond the national average is attributed by the report to a long religious tradition of giving to charitable and communal needs. The Jewish community’s contributions to general national elections is 15 to 20 times greater than their proportion to the general population.

JEWS WARNED AGAINST ‘SINGLE ISSUE’ FOCUS

The report, meanwhile, cautioned Jewish organizations against narrowing their focus of interest and becoming “single-issue” groups. Terming this trend “self ghettoization,” it points out that while the Jewish population at large has retained a broad agenda of concerns and continues to be involved in a wide range of general community activities, many Jewish organizations are concentrating too narrowly on Israel.

“American Jewish political effectiveness will depend not on marginal political clout, nor on Israel related activism, but on general Jewish influence in the political process,” said the report, adding that in the final analysis, such influence will stem from the perception and the values American Jews impress on the political process and on American policy makers.