Abraham Lincoln said “ government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish this world”(1).Lincoln is referring to the statutes upon which liberal democracy in the United States stands. This country, the United States of America, is the result of chants “ No taxation with representation”. It is one of the greatest experiments of freedom and liberty in the human history. It was the place where anything was possible because the people ruled this country. Political involvement of citizens has led to the two centuries long success of this experiment.Political participation as defined by Verba & Nie (1987) is “activities by private citizens that are more or less directly aimed at influencing the selection of governmental personnel and/or the actions they take” (Gregson 2). Here is the situation today; in the most recent midterm elections the voter turnout was the lowest since 1942. Even though our economy has just suffered one of the worst recessions in history it did not make people go out and vote for a change. Furthermore, the even troubling factor is minorities are not voicing their concerns. There was a decrease in the voting among Hispanic voters for the midterm elections of 2014 than the presidential election of 2012. They have a total share of 11 percent in the electorate but only 8 percent of Hispanic voters voted in the election (Gomez 1). Immigrants and minorities are the ones who should be using their right to vote. They should be the first ones making themselves heard because if not they will not speak up they won’t be represented in the policies made for them.
Professor S. Karthick Ramakrishnan and Thomas J. Espenshade of Princeton University conducted a detailed study of the voting patterns among the immigrant population of the United State. They looked at which factors affect the voters in general and compared them to the immigrant populations across ethnic groups with generational analysis. Their findings were quite surprising in some areas but mostly confirmed the previously done studies on immigrant voting behavior.In their analysis of generational differences in the 1994 and 1998 midterm elections they discovered that voting participation goes down in most ethnic groups after first generation with the exception of Asians and white immigrants. They called that the second generation advantage. Yet even the white population saw a decrease in voter participation after second generation (Ramakrishnan, Espenshade Figure 1).When compared to the report of Pew Research Center that shows that only a minority fraction of first generation Americans think of themselves as typical American, this is surprising.One would expect first generation immigrants to be more reluctant to vote because they do not see themselves as part of the community or typical Americans. Even though two reports were generated 20 years apart, I believe first generation Americans try to assimilate in American society through their civic participation. They reason that decrease in second, third and later generations is due to “segmented assimilation, whereby different processes of political socialization produce different generational patterns in participation” ( Ramakrishnan, Espenshade 894). For example different political campaigns or restrictions on voting rights could lead to different patterns of political participation. Furthermore, as the generations move the same issues do not appeal to them as much as they did for the previous generations.
Civic duties are part of assimilation process and voting would be the first step toward fulfilling these duties. In general, citizens who are more politically involved are aware of their surroundings and can bring change. The issues of immigrants will never be resolved if they do not have any representation in the government. Political parties will care about the electorate that is more active and hence listens to their issues. Furthermore, it is part of the American philosophy to govern yourself. As I quoted Abraham Lincoln above, a government of the people, by the people is not possible if a significant portion of citizens do not voice their opinions. Hence immigrant population should be encouraging of participation in the political process in the U.S. They should motivate their children to embrace the democratic ideas of America and be a proud member of this society through their civic participation.
Works Cited
Gomez, Alan. "Voices: Hispanics Quiet in '14 Elections, Not in '16." USA Today. Gannett, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/12/voices-gomez-2016-election-hispanics-immigration/18800813/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories>.
Gregson, Kimberly. "Community Networks and Political Participation: Developing Goals for System Developers." ASIS 1997: Community Networks and Political Participation. School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, May 1997. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <https://www.asis.org/annual-97/kgregson.htm>.
Ramakrishnan, S. Karthick, and Thomas J. Espenshade. "Immigrant Incorporation and Political Participation in the United States." The Center for Migration Studies of New York, Inc., Autumn 2001. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/2675847>.
Professor S. Karthick Ramakrishnan and Thomas J. Espenshade of Princeton University conducted a detailed study of the voting patterns among the immigrant population of the United State. They looked at which factors affect the voters in general and compared them to the immigrant populations across ethnic groups with generational analysis. Their findings were quite surprising in some areas but mostly confirmed the previously done studies on immigrant voting behavior.In their analysis of generational differences in the 1994 and 1998 midterm elections they discovered that voting participation goes down in most ethnic groups after first generation with the exception of Asians and white immigrants. They called that the second generation advantage. Yet even the white population saw a decrease in voter participation after second generation (Ramakrishnan, Espenshade Figure 1).When compared to the report of Pew Research Center that shows that only a minority fraction of first generation Americans think of themselves as typical American, this is surprising.One would expect first generation immigrants to be more reluctant to vote because they do not see themselves as part of the community or typical Americans. Even though two reports were generated 20 years apart, I believe first generation Americans try to assimilate in American society through their civic participation. They reason that decrease in second, third and later generations is due to “segmented assimilation, whereby different processes of political socialization produce different generational patterns in participation” ( Ramakrishnan, Espenshade 894). For example different political campaigns or restrictions on voting rights could lead to different patterns of political participation. Furthermore, as the generations move the same issues do not appeal to them as much as they did for the previous generations.
Civic duties are part of assimilation process and voting would be the first step toward fulfilling these duties. In general, citizens who are more politically involved are aware of their surroundings and can bring change. The issues of immigrants will never be resolved if they do not have any representation in the government. Political parties will care about the electorate that is more active and hence listens to their issues. Furthermore, it is part of the American philosophy to govern yourself. As I quoted Abraham Lincoln above, a government of the people, by the people is not possible if a significant portion of citizens do not voice their opinions. Hence immigrant population should be encouraging of participation in the political process in the U.S. They should motivate their children to embrace the democratic ideas of America and be a proud member of this society through their civic participation.
Works Cited
Gomez, Alan. "Voices: Hispanics Quiet in '14 Elections, Not in '16." USA Today. Gannett, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/12/voices-gomez-2016-election-hispanics-immigration/18800813/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories>.
Gregson, Kimberly. "Community Networks and Political Participation: Developing Goals for System Developers." ASIS 1997: Community Networks and Political Participation. School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, May 1997. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <https://www.asis.org/annual-97/kgregson.htm>.
Ramakrishnan, S. Karthick, and Thomas J. Espenshade. "Immigrant Incorporation and Political Participation in the United States." The Center for Migration Studies of New York, Inc., Autumn 2001. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/2675847>.