American declinism and the impact of petro-socialism

Irrespective of self-inflicted setbacks, the United States is and will be the ‘indispensable nation’ for the foreseeable future – not merely as the world's largest market, military power and source of technological innovation but also as trendsetter. Doubtless, the United States has fallen back during the G.W. Bush presidency – preoccupied with events in Iraq and an economic slowdown and financial crisis that are now reflected in waning neo-conservative influence. In this policy vacuum, Chávez of Venezuela is building a regional coalition critical of the ‘Washington consensus’ and traditional US hegemony, and he is backed by abundant oil supplies. Petro-socialism needs examination. Meanwhile Barack Obama speaks of change, implying a more consensual foreign policy of rebuilding alliances and opening doors long closed.     

Decoding Prejudice Toward Hispanics: Group Cues and Public Reactions to Threatening Immigrant Behavior

Consistent with theories of modern racism, we argue that white, non-Hispanic Americans have adopted a “coded,” race-neutral means of expressing prejudice toward Hispanic immigrants by citing specific behaviors that are deemed inappropriate—either because they are illegal or threatening in an economic or cultural manner. We present data from a series of nationally representative, survey-embedded experiments to tease out the distinct role that anti-Hispanic prejudice plays in shaping public opinion on immigration. Our results show that white Americans take significantly greater offense to transgressions such as being in the country illegally, “working under the table,” and rejecting symbols of American identity, when the perpetrating immigrant is Hispanic rather than White (or unspecified). In addition, we demonstrate that these ethnicity-based group differences in public reactions shape support for restrictive immigration policies. The findings from this article belie the claim of non-prejudice and race-neutrality avowed by many opponents of immigration.