Participation in liberal democracy - The political assimilation of immigrants and ethnic minorities in the United States

This article compares patterns of participatory behavior in politics among immigrants and ethnic minorities in the United States. Differences in rates of participation in a range of political activities from system-directed acts, such as voting and contacting officials, to more direct forms of participation, such as protesting are analyzed for Whites, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans, as well as by generation of immigration within groups. The extent to which standard socioeconomic status models of participatory behavior explain variation in political activity across ethnic and racial groups is assessed. In so doing, the article challenges the normative interpretation of the results from these standard models that more participation among minorities and new entrants to the United States is desirable.