Dr. Loan Le delivered a number of projects at the Western Political Science Association’s 2017 meeting in Vancouver, Canada, seeking critical feedback for our work on democratic inclusion from a broader audience of scholars. Immigrant incorporation is an issue that faces all nations.
Panel Paper Delivered:
“Cuban American and Vietnamese American Immigrant Political Incorporation: Immigrant Cohorts & “Like” Candidates in Presidential Election Years”
The in-depth 2000 and 2008 analyses suggest that Bush and Obama galvanized support among voting blocs in the Vietnamese and Cuban American samples. Although the idea of interested voting blocs may be an obvious point for general scholarship in political behavior, the immigrant incorporation literature underscores that integration is not automatic and that many groups fall away from the classical (linear) assimilation pattern. The significant point here is that the menu of choices offered to immigrants, above and beyond party outreach efforts (or the lack thereof), may impact the likelihood of their electoral participation. George Bush and Barack Obama appeared to galvanize immigrant waves among Cuban American and Vietnamese American respondents differently. These findings support the immigrant cohort hypothesis, which provides for distinct immigrant cohorts that are affected in the long term by a political imprinting process that takes place both during exit and re-socialization in the destination country.
Roundtable Presentations Delivered
“Electoral Participation in the November 2016 Elections: Lower Rates for Asian American & Latino Youth”
“Professional Development Issues Confronting Asian Pacific Americans in Political Science”