Transcript China through American Eyes - East Asia Institute | The University of

China Through
American Eyes:
The Role of Liberalism
Peter Gries
THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
EAI / NCTA
Tulsa, OK
7 November 2015
Political psychology
• Perception is reality
• Who we are and what we believe shapes
our views of the world, including China
1. Big “I” Ideology: Liberalism that all
Americans share
2. Small “i” ideologies: Differences between
American liberals and conservatives
The Daily Show with John Stewart
Liberalism:
Maximizing individual freedom
• What Americans celebrate:
What we fear:
George Orwell’s “Big Brother”
“If you want to imagine the future, imagine a boot stamping on a
human face forever.” — George Orwell, 1984 (c1949)
“We don’t need no education.”
Why do we like our former
enemies so much?
… They are democracies
The ‘Democratic Peace’
• Democracies as natural allies
– Don’t view each other as threatening,
so don’t go to war
– Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace (1795)
• But tend to view non-democracies as
threatening
– So may be more war-prone towards them…
– David Hume: ‘imprudent vehemence’
Freedom House scores are strongly predictive of
American feelings towards foreign countries, 2011
R2 linear = .77
r = .88; N = 16
But not all Americans are alike…
…liberal and conservative ideologies
shape American views of China and
the world.
National American Internet survey
• Nationally representative sample (spring 2011;
N=1,000), matches US population on standard
demographic variables (age, sex, education,
income, race, and region), as well as religion, party
identification, and ideology (liberal-conservative)
American liberals consistently feel warmer than
conservatives do towards the world, including China.
Chapter 9:
East Asia
Not all liberals and conservatives are alike…
… yet our public opinion scholarship largely ignores those differences.
2012 Republicans
2008 Democrats
Four Dimensions of American Ideology:
1) culture wars
Mike Huckabee
RWA – traditionalism:
- There is absolutely
nothing wrong with nudist
camps. (rev)
- This country will flourish if
young people stop
experimenting with drugs,
alcohol, and sex, and
focus on family values.
- There is nothing wrong
with premarital sexual
intercourse. (rev)
Wendy Davis
Jerry Fallwell
… shape international attitudes
Four Dimensions of American Ideology:
2) socio-racial
SDO – group dominance:
- Inferior groups should
stay in their place.
- It’s probably a BAD thing
that certain groups are at
the top and other groups
are at the bottom. (reverse
coded)
- Some groups of people
are simply inferior to other
groups.
George Wallace
Four Dimensions of American Ideology:
3) Economic
- Differences between high
and low incomes should
remain as they are.
- The government should
decrease income
differences. (rev)
- Class differences should
be smaller than they are
today. (rev.)
Four Dimensions of American Ideology: 4)
Communitarian – Libertarian
Communitarian-Libertarian
scale:
- American society has swung
too far towards individual
rights at the expense of social
responsibilities. (rev.)
- Individual rights are more
important than the good of the
group.
- Individuals should be free to
follow their own dreams in
their own ways, without
interference from
government.
- Government must limit our
individual freedoms so as to
prevent unchecked
selfishness, greed, and
immorality. (rev.)
Elizabeth
Warren
Ron
Paul
Dual pathways from American ideologies to
China policy preferences
Dual pathways from American ideologies to
China policy preferences
Barry Goldwater &
Libertarian
anti-communism
US political advertising