Characteristics and Trends of the Voter Registration and Turnout Rate of Asian Americans in U.S. Elections: A Demographic Study of Asian American Political Participation
Abstract
The political participation of Asian Americans has long been a topic discussed and even questioned by the media and the public. Asian Americans’ relatively low engagement in politics is largely reflected in their low registration rate, voter turnout, and lower levels of interest in politics compared to other groups. Asian Americans are becoming the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. Improving the political participation of this group has therefore become a key issue that needs to be researched and solved urgently.
To promote Asian Americans’ engagement in politics, we must figure out what internal and external factors are related to impeding, or even restricting, their political participation in terms of registration and voting. Some empirical studies have pointed out that language barriers, voter suppression tactics, and the lack of high-quality engagement from political parties are some of the obstacles troubling Asian Americans’ access to the ballot box. However, in addition to these factors, what demographics are related to their performance in political participation has not been studied much. The goal of this thesis is to examine the correlations between certain demographic variables, specifically age, education attainment, and birth place, and the political participation of Asian Americans. I found that Asian Americans who were born in the U.S. are more likely to vote than those who are foreign-born. I also found that age and education level were good predictors of Asian American voting and registration behaviors, which partially explains why their political participation is not ideal at this stage. These factors, combined with the observation of the current age structure of Asian American population, are examined in related to the future political engagement of this group.
Description
M.A.
Permanent Link
http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1060522Date Published
2020Subject
Type
Publisher
Georgetown University
Extent
65 leaves
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