Abstract
What is ethnicity and how does it matter for political participation? Previous research has shown that the participatory disparity of Asian Americans, as different from Latinos, cannot be explained with sociodemographic and group consciousness variables. Adopting the view of a growing body of scholars who think ethnicity is an evolving rather than a static phenomenon, this study proposes multidimensional measures of ethnicity for two immigrant groups. Reexamining part of the 1984 data set that contains a unique oversampling of Asian and Mexican Americans in California, it is found that the two groups, despite a huge socioeconomic gap, bear similar ethnicity and participation structures. For both groups, acculturation increases participation; attachment to homeland culture does not necessarily discourage participation; and the role of group consciousness is much more complex than previously conceived.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barth, Fredrick (1969).Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. Boston: Little Brown.
Black, Jerome H. (1987). The practice of politics in two settings: Political transferability among recent immigrants to Canada.Canadian Journal of Political Science 20: 731–753.
Bobo, Lawrence, and Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. (1990). Race, sociopolitical participation, and black empowerment.American Political Science Review 84: 377–393.
Cain, Bruce E., D. Roderick Kiewiet, and Carole J. Uhlaner (1991). The acquisition of partisanship by Latinos and Asian Americans.American Journal of Political Science 35: 390–422.
Calvo, Maria A., and Steven J. Rosenstone (1989).Hispanic Political Participation. San Antonio: Southwest Voter Research Institute.
Conway, M. Margaret (1991).Political Participation in the United States, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly.
Converse, Philip E. (1969). Of time and partisan stability.Comparative Political Studies 2: 139–177.
de la Garza, Rodolfo O. (1987).Ignored Voices: Public Opinion Polls and the Latino Community. Austin: University of Texas Press.
de la Garza, Rodolfo O., Louis DeSipio, F. Chris Garcia, John Garcia, and Angelo Falcon (1992).Latino Voices. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Dennis, Jack (1988a). Political independence in America, Part I.British Journal of Political Science 18: 77–109.
Dennis, Jack (1988b). Political independence in America, Part II.British Journal of Political Science 18: 191–219.
Espiritu, Yen L. (1992).Asian American Pan-ethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Feagin, Joe R., and Clairece B. Feagin (1993).Racial and Ethnic Relations, 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Finifter, Ada W., and Bernard M. Finifter (1989). Party identification and political adaptation of American migrants in Australia.Journal of Politics 51: 599–630.
Fuchs, Lawrence H. (1990).The American Kaleidoscope: Race, Ethnicity, and the Civic Culture. Hanover, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Garcia, F. Chris, John Garcia, Rodolfo de la Garza, and Angelo Falcon (1992). The effects of ethnic partisanship on electoral behavior. Paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago.
Garcia, John A. (1987). The political integration of Mexicanimmigrants: Examining some political orientations.International Migration Review 21: 372–389.
Gordon, Milton M. (1964).Assimilation in America Life. New York: Oxford University Press.
Guterbock, Thomas M., and Bruce London (1983). Race, political orientation, and participation: An empirical test of four competing theories.American Sociological Review 48: 439–453.
Hanushek, Eric, and John Jackson (1977).Statistical Methods for Social Scientists. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Hero, Rodney E. (1992).Latinos and the U.S. Political System. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Hutchison, Ray (1988). The Hispanic community in Chicago: A study of population growth and acculturation. In Cora Marrett and Cheryl Leggon (eds.),Research in Race and Ethnic Relations, pp. 193–229. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Hutnik, Nimmi (1986). Patterns of ethnic minority identification and modes of social adaptation.Ethnic and Racial Studies 9: 150–167.
Isajiw, Wsevolod W. (1974). Definitions of ethnicity.Ethnicity 1: 111–124.
Jackson, Byran O., and Michael B. Preston (eds.) (1991).Racial and Ethnic Politics in California. Berkeley, CA: IGS Press.
Keefe, Susan E., and Amado M. Padilla (1987).Chicano Ethnicity. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Keyes, Charles F. (1981):Ethnic Change. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Kitano, Harry L., and Roger Daniels (1988).Asian-Americans: Emerging Minorities. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Light, Ivan (1981). Ethnic succession. In Charles Keys (ed.),Ethnic Change, pp. 54–86. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
London, Bruce, and Michael W. Giles (1987). Black participation: Compensation or ethnic identification.Journal of Black Studies 18: 20–44.
Milbrath, Lester W., and Madan L. Goel (1977).Political Participation, 2nd ed. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Miller, Arthur H., Patricia Gurin, Gerald Gurin, and Oksana Malanchuk (1981). Group consciousness and political participation.American Journal of Political Science 25: 494–511.
Nakanishi, Don T. (1985–86). Asian American politics: An agenda for research.Amerasia Journal 12(2): 1–27.
Nakanishi, Don T. (1991). The next swing vote? Asian Pacific Americans and California politics. In Byran O. Jackson and Michael B. Preston (eds.),Racial and Ethnic Politics in California, pp. 25–54. Berkeley: IGS Press.
Nelson, Dale C. (1979). Ethnicity and socioeconomic status as sources of participation.American Political Science Review 73: 1024–1038.
Nie, Norman, Sidney Verba, Henry Brady, Kay Schlozman, and Jane Junn (1988). Participation in America: Continuity and change. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago.
Olsen, Marvin E. (1970). Social and political participation of blacks.American Sociological Review 35: 297–682.
Omi, Michael and Howard Winant (1986).Racial Formation in the United States. New York: Routledge.
Pachon, Harry (1985). Political mobilization in the Mexican-American community. In Walker Connor (ed.),Mexicans in Comparative Perspective, pp. 245–256. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Pachon, Harry (1991). U.S. citizenship and Latino participation in California politics. In Bryan O. Jackson and Michael B. Preston (eds.),Racial and Ethnic Politics in California, pp. 71–88. Berkeley: IGS Press.
Padilla, Felix M. (1985). On the nature of Latino ethnicity. In Rodolfo de la Garza et al. (eds.),The Mexican-American Experience, pp. 332–345. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Parenti, Michael (1967). Ethnic politics and the persistence of ethnic identification.American Political Science Review 61: 717–726.
Patterson, Orlando (1975). Context and choice in ethnic allegiance: A theoretical framework and Caribbean case study. In Nathan Glazer and Daniel Moynihan (eds.),Ethnicity, pp. 305–349. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Portes, Alejandro (1984). The rise of ethnicity: Determinants of ethnic perceptions among Cuban exiles in Miami.American Sociological Review 49: 383–397.
Rosenstone, Steven J., and John M. Hansen (1993).Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America. New York: Macmillan.
Sarna, Jonathan D. (1978). From immigrants to ethnics: Toward a new theory of “ethnicization”.Ethnicity 5: 370–378.
Schmidt, Ronald J. (1992). The political incorporation of immigrants in California: An institutional assessment. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago.
Shingles, Richard D. (1981). Black consciousness and political participation: The missing link.American Political Science Review 75: 76–91.
Sigel, Roberta S. (ed.) (1988).Political Learning in Adulthood. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Sigelman, Lee, Philip W. Roeder, Malcolm Jewell, and Michael A. Baer (1985). Voting and nonvoting: A multi-election perspective.American Journal of Political Science 29: 749–765.
Teixeira, Ruy A. (1992).The Disappearing American Voter. Washington, DC: Brookings.
Uhlaner, Carole J. (1986). Political participation, rational actors, and rationality: A new approach.Political Psychology 7: 551–573.
Uhlaner, Carole J. (1989). Rational turnout: The neglected role of groups.American Journal of Political Science 33: 390–422.
Uhlaner, Carole J. (1991). Political participation and discrimination: A comparative analysis of Asians, blacks, and Latinos. In William Crotty (ed.),Political Participation and American Democracy, pp. 139–170. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Uhlaner, Carole J., Bruce E. Cain, and D. Roderick Kiewiet (1989). Political participation of ethnic minorities in the 1980s.Political Behavior 11: 195–232.
Verba, Sidney, and Norman H. Nie (1972).Participation in America: Political Democracy and Social Equality. New York: Harper & Row.
Verba, Sidney, Kay Schlozman, Henry Brady, and Norman Nie (1991). Resources and political participation. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC.
Waters, M. C. (1990).Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Welch, Susan, John Comer, and Michael Steinman (1972). Political participation among Mexican Americans: An exploratory examination.Social Science Quarterly 53: 799–813.
Williams, J. Allen, Jr., and Suzanne Ortega (1990). Dimensions of ethnic assimilation: An empirical appraisal of Gordon's typology.Social Science Quarterly 71: 697–710.
Wolfinger, Raymond E., and Steven J. Rosenstone (1980).Who Votes? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Yinger, J. Milton. (1985). Assimilation in the United States: The Mexican-Americans. In Walker Connor (ed.),Mexican-Americans in Comparative Perspective, pp. 29–55. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The author would like to thank M. Margaret Conway, Wayne Francis, Michael Martinez, the anonymous reviewers, and many others for their generous support and thoughtful comments.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lien, Pt. Ethnicity and political participation: A comparison between Asian and Mexican Americans. Polit Behav 16, 237–264 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01498879
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01498879