Power' was already a highly vocal demand of, and form of political organization for, American blacks" (Schneider, 1979, p. 6). Ethnic group identification appealed primarily to lower class and disadvantaged whites. Previously, whites had little need to align themselves along ethnic lines because the major waves of European immigration had terminated during the 1920s. Also, most whites adhered to the ideals of the American "melting pot" in which ethnic differences were subordinated. Immigrants were encouraged to adopt attitudes of "Anglo-Conformity." Anglo-Conformists are generally suspicious of those with foreign backgrounds or those who try to inject race into social issues. Stated explicitly, "Anglo-Conformity, for example, precludes nationality-based politics through its implicit assumption of the acceptance of the culture of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants as the 'superior' 'core' culture of American society and the model to which all ethnic groups should conform" (Schneider, 1979, p. 8). In contrast to Anglo-Conformity is the ideal of cultural pluralism, in which value is placed on a heterogeneous society. A heterogeneous national viewpoint prevailed until World War II, when the country was forced to emphasize its homogeneous nature in order to mobilize against a common enemy.
In reviewing America's historical voting patterns, it is clear that ethnicity played an important role in past electoral campaigns. For instance, many social scientists have analyzed the 1860 presidential election of Abraham Lincoln in terms of ethnocultural voting. According to some experts, Lincoln could not have been elected without the support of German-born and other foreign citizens. The immigrants were instigated by their ethnic leaders to vote Republican, thereby ensuring the victory to Lincoln. Although most social scientists assume that the immigrants followed the lead of their spokesmen, Swierenga (1971) challenges this thesis based ...