Editing Moral panic (section)

==== Nativist movement and the Know-Nothing Party (1840s–1860s) ====
{{Main|Nativism (politics)|Know Nothing}}

The brief success of the [[Know Nothing|Know-Nothing Party]] in the US during the 1850s can be understood as resulting from a moral panic over Irish Catholic immigration dating back to the 1840s, particularly as it related to religion, politics, and jobs.<ref name="Ramet-2013" /> [[Nativism (politics)|Nativist]] criticism of immigrants from [[Catholic countries|Catholic nations]] centered upon the control of the [[Pope]] over church members. The concern regarding the social threat led the Know-Nothing Party in the [[1856 United States presidential election|1856 presidential election]] to win 21.5% of the vote. The quick decline in political success for the Know-Nothing Party as a result of a decline in concern for the perceived social threat is an indicative feature of the movements situated in moral panic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Downs|first=A.|date=1972|title=Up with Ecology and Down with Ecology: The 'Issue Attention' Cycle|journal=The Public Interest|volume=28|issue=38–50}}</ref>