So why didn’t Democrats tell Gallup this?
- Objecting to an administration that appears friendly (if not complicit) towards a foreign power that meddled in the most recent election process.
It would be interesting to see this poll done a bit differently, with the question of “do you consider yourself to be patriotic?” left until the end.
Some good questions first would be:
Do you consider those who protest against government policies to be patriotic?
Do you consider paying your share of taxes to be patriotic?
Do you consider those who criticize the govt’s actions to be patriotic?
Do you consider those who criticize the actions of law enforcement to be patriotic?
Do you consider supporting the rights of minorities to be patriotic?
I could go on, but I’m actually down one eye today, which causes more trouble typing than I thought it would, but you get the point. Quantify what they consider to be patriotic before asking themselves whether or not they identify with it.
Why didn’t 52% of Republicans explain what they mean when they claim to be “Extremely Patriotic”?
I don’t think that was an option in the poll responses.
False premise. For example, Democrats do no defend collusion with a hostile foreign power.
See above.
Definitions of patriotism can vary, but to me this is what patriotism is all about. Caring enough about your country to understand it and what makes it unique. Jingoism isn’t patriotism, it’s just nationalism. And many people seem to just want the US to be like other countries, which also isn’t patriotism. Not that we shouldn’t shamelessly borrow from others, but we should so taking into account a) whether what other countries do actually works, rather than moralizing, and b) whether it’s compatible with our unique culture and views of government.
Perhaps part of the reason is that Democrats are traditionally more like to belong to identity groups (blacks, LGBT, feminists, socialists, globalists, etc.) with grievances against the US. Even granted that many of those grievances are legitimate, they are still going to be less likely to identify as patriotic.
Regards,
Shodan
It was a poll. The pollster asks a question and allows for only a limited number of responses. The person polled is given no opportunity to provide a clarifying response or to demand a definition of the word of to pointing out the errors in the phrasing of the question.
As noted above, the Right Wing has hijacked the word “patriot” in the minds of many people to indicate an unquestioning support for the actions of my country regardless of whether those actions are right of wrong, proper or improper. In fact, for a number of people the actions of the country are defined as right or wrong based on whether the country is engaged in that behavior. So when citizens objected to U.S. interference in the Vietnamese civil war, they were branded “unpatriotic” and when citizens objected to an invasion of Iraq on the grounds that the excuses being put forth to justify it were lies and that such an invasion would cause the nation more harm than good, they were branded “unpatriotic.”
It is more likely that more Democrats than Republicans associate the word patriot with meaningless flag waving and jingoism, so their answers will reflect that.
If one’s definition of patriotism identifies a patriot as someone whose claims that their country is always right, regardless of its actions, then that is the answer to the OP.
If one’s definition of patriotism identifies a patriot as someone with a great love of country, then one needs to find a word that has not already been politicized to have a specific political meaning.
What’s it a fine measurement of? All it measures is whether someone describes themselves as patriotic. Of course, some people truly do believe that signaling patriotism is equal to being patriotic, but are you content to let that be your whole definition?
You could try to quantify it with a few points, but some of them fall apart when you start looking at them. A few examples:
[ul]
[li]Did you serve in the millitary?[/li][li]Do you vote?[/li][li]Do you support your country even when it’s done wrong?[/li][li]Do you think it’s even possible for your country to do wrong?[/li][li]When your leadership declares someone an enemy, are they automatically your enemy?[/li][li]Do you perform civic oblications like voting, paying taxes, serving jury duty?[/li][li]Do you think America is the best country in every way?[/li][li]Do you display the flag or other patriotic symbols?[/li][/ul]
Some of these seem like no brainers, but are more contentious when you pick them apart… i.e. military service is a pretty undeniable commitment, so why did so many arch-conservatives dodge Vietnam, and don’t even want to serve their country by paying taxes? Flying the flag is a big signaller of patriotism, but all it costs is $19.99 and a stick. There’s absolutely no risk in saying you’re patriotic, because even though patriotism isn’t universally popular, few people are going to criticize it unless you’re using it to justify some other weighty matter.
I guess maybe the real question is why are so many Republicans content to define patriotism as saying the magic phrase “I am a patriot”. Given that they consider this such an important virtue, you’d think they would have tighter criteria than “Yep, I’m a patriot”. That’s why Republican patriotism is seen as shallow and insincere.
The only significant stat in there, IMHO that even weakly supports your conclusion is the final one…those who self-identify as ‘not especially patriotic’. The rest is really just how someone interprets the question. I’d say that basically Democrats and Republicans see the question differently, but in the end, most of those in the main stream self-identify themselves as patriots. The final category is pretty easily explained by the left wing fringe Democrats for who patriotism is not a characteristic that they feel is a good one to have…quite the opposite, I’m sure.
I don’t enthusiastically identify as a “patriotic” because I associate the word with the patriot movement.
Although I’d love it if someone would jump in and explain how hatred of the federal government = love of country. I’m not holding my breath, though
Because they’re also generally not hypocrites lacking in any self awareness or sense of irony?
Wasn’t part of the Lois Lerner IRS scandal that she was picking out any organization with “Patriot” in the name and giving them the run-around? Apparently she has much the same definition.
Regards,
Shodan
What makes you think that Republicans’ definition of patriotism ends at ‘saying the magic phrase “I am a patriot”’? More of them did tell Gallup that they were extremely patriotic than Dems, but that’s not any sort of evidence that that’s all their patriotism consists of. Take, for example, your first quantifiable point: “Did you serve in the millitary?” The military has far more Republicans serving in it today than Democrats.
Another question: why did Republican patriotism jump increase by 50% between 2005 and 2010? The 2005 poll had Republican “extremely patriotic” responses at 32%, and five years later, at 52%.
Also, as Gallup points out, “Republicans’ relatively higher identification with the “extremely patriotic” label is particularly intriguing when one considers that Democrats are currently far more likely than Republicans to say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country (41% vs. 7%, respectively).”
I think part of what Hurricane is picking up on may be not as much about the character of the parties, but a reflection of some kind of political phenomenon that I can’t put my finger on, either.
If Democrats believed that “the word properly signifies” “the actual love of country, and the people in it” and that “It’s Democrats who more embody” those characteristics, then why did 11% of them say they were “not especially patriotic”? Do 11% of Democrats not have “actual love of country and the people in it”? Do 26% of Democrats only love the country “somewhat”?
There are going to be a certain segment of the self identified republican extreme patriots that will say, “Of course I am extremely patriotic, I voted against Obummer!”
I’m sure beliefs about the meaning of the word differ quite extensively – hence my point about how white supremacists, confederate flag wavers, confederacy supporters, and the like might claim they’re patriotic, but I think it’s very reasonable to believe that they are not.
I agree, it’s an interesting phenomenon, and one I don’t think I have a good explanation for. I’m not sure what caused Republicans’ self-identified patriotism to swell between 2005 and 2010. Someone earlier hinted at the Tea Party movement, but I’m not sure I understand how that would affect their answers so dramatically.