ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that one source of the restrictionist inclinations, though by no means the only source has been a concern for immigrant-induced ideological diversity. Millions of immigrants have been permitted to disembark and take up permanent residence. The juxtaposition of public sentiment is instructive—the American demeanor has been at once charitable and inhospitable, embracing immigrants yet wary of them. To be sure, the United States takes official pride in its immigrant roots, strength through ethnic diversity being an elementary lesson of civic education. Alexis De Tocqueville encapsulates the consensus perspective on American society. His explanation of the American democratic order centers on the attitudinal characteristics of the citizenry. The most eminent American students of politics likewise acknowledge the descriptive validity of the consensus thesis. “In contrast to most European societies,” Samuel Huntington comments, “a broad consensus exists and has existed in the United States on basic political values and beliefs."
