The Pew Research Study on Jewish Americans says in part:
On these measures (partisanship and ideology), the only other U.S. religious groups that are as conservative and Republican as Orthodox Jews are white evangelical Protestants and Mormons.
With ultra-Orthodox more strongly identified that way than Modern Orthodox. For non-Orthodox Jews (and especially if you remove Conservative from the mix):
Jews by religion are more than twice as likely as members of most other religious traditions to describe themselves as politically liberal. And black Protestants are the only religious group with a larger share than Jews by religion that identifies with or leans toward the Democratic Party.
(For those outside of America, if you view politics as a two dimensional line, these two positions are on right and left side of the line, respectively).
What about Orthodox Jewish beliefs cause people with an otherwise similar cultural and ancestral background and experience in America to reach different political conclusions than their compatriots who do not have this religious belief? Is there something specific about the beliefs of Orthodox Judaism that is interpreted as requiring association with one side of the political spectrum over the other, or is this correlation unrelated to religious belief and practice?
Note that for purposes of this survey, self-identification was all that was used. If someone identified themselves as Orthodox and as Republican, it was reported as such. So an objective definition of Republican isn't necessary to answer this question, but rather something which correlates the impression among Orthodox adherents about what political groups they are more affiliated with.
Possible objective sources of answers:
- Clear statements from influential Rabbis, Rabbinic Organizations or lay leadership in the Orthodox world which support such political leanings.
- A social scientists study on what may create that correlation.
- Personal experience with broad ranges of Orthodox Jews and finding a common theme in what they express about their political leanings.
- Something I didn't think of.