How the Debate over American Identity Shaped the Election and What It Means for a Trump Presidency
Key Findings
- Even before the 2016 election, there was increasing alignment between race and partisanship, with white voters without a college education shifting sharply toward the Republican Party.
- Attitudes related to immigration, religion, and race were more salient to voter decision-making in 2016 than in 2012. Other attitudes do not show this pattern.
- There are serious partisan cleavages in how Americans feel about immigrants and Muslims.
- Large majorities agree on certain criteria for “being American,” but Democrats and Republicans disagree about whether being Christian is an important criterion.
- Americans see both positive and negative consequences to the demographic changes that are projected to make the U.S. a majority-minority nation.
Sources
https://www.voterstudygroup.org/reports/2016-elections/race-religion-immigration-2016
Link to Report pdf: file:///C:/Users/Freeha%20Riaz/Desktop/RaceReligionImmigration_2017june12.pdf
