Becoming a Citizen in the United States and Canada: Structured Mobilization and Immigrant Political Incorporation

Social Forces ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 667-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Bloemraad
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
Immigrant Political Incorporation

“Two Peas in a Pod,” “Apples and Oranges,” and Other Food Metaphors

2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (9) ◽  
pp. 1131-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Bloemraad
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
National Comparison ◽  
Immigrant Political Incorporation ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Cross National

Cross-national comparison increases the complexity of data collection and analysis but offers the promise of innovative new knowledge; it is hard to know what is noteworthy about an outcome or process without a comparative reference point. Juxtaposing Canada and the United States, two countries more similar to each other than to any other, allows researchers to probe how particular variations can produce consequential differences. The article outlines key historic and contemporary similarities and differences that can affect immigrant political incorporation in North America, including different foundational minority conflicts and variations in current migrant flows. The author discusses the importance of specifying outcomes and how these outcomes can be approached from different levels of analysis. Finally, the author identifies several understudied questions, including cross-national variation in local political responses to immigration—significant in the United States, more muted in Canada—and the differential use of law and rights framing to advance immigrant causes.

Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigrant Political Incorporation: The American Experience

2010 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Gerstle
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
American Experience ◽  
United States Today ◽  
Immigrant Political Incorporation

AbstractThis essay offers a historical overview of processes of immigrant political incorporation in the United States. It identifies three dimensions of incorporation—legal, cultural, and institutional—and argues that the unevenness of progress among these three dimensions has rendered the process of incorporation fraught and frequently marked by contradiction. It also distinguishes between “acquiescent” and “transformational” modes of incorporation and stresses that the latter, though often perceived as threatening by the native-born, is often the more enduring and meaningful way of becoming American. Finally, it assesses the prospects for incorporation among immigrants in the United States today.

The Political Incorporation of Muslims in the United States: The Mobilizing Role of Religiosity in Islam

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karam Dana ◽  
Bryan Wilcox-Archuleta ◽  
Matt Barreto
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Muslim Americans ◽  
Is Research ◽  
Overwhelming Evidence

AbstractDespite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, popular perceptions in the United States, especially among political elites, continue to believe that religious Muslims oppose American democratic traditions and values. While many studies find positive relationships between mosque attendance and civic participation among U.S. Muslims, an empirical and theoretical puzzle continues to exist. What is missing is research that examines the relationships between the multi-dimensional concept of religiosity and how this is associated with public opinion and attitudes towards the American political system among Muslim Americans. Using a unique national survey of Muslim Americans, we find a positive relationship between religious beliefs, behavior, and belonging and perceptions of compatibility with American democratic traditions. Quite simply, the most religious are the most likely to believe in political integration in the United States.

Political Incorporation among Immigrants from Ten Areas of Origin: The Persistence of Source Country Effects

2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Simpson Bueker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Population Survey ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
The United States ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Contemporary United States

Using four years of data from the Current Population Survey, this study examines the effect of country of origin on two types of political incorporation among immigrants – citizenship and voting – in the contemporary United States. Results show that country of origin is a statistically significant predictor of citizenship acquisition for nine of ten immigrant groups and for voter turnout for five of ten groups, net of income, education, length of residence in the United States, and other demographic characteristics. The findings also suggest that country of origin matters as much for how it interacts with other key characteristics, such as education and income, as for the independent influence it exerts on these two political processes. For immigrants from most countries under examination, lower levels of education and income discourage citizenship acquisition. An exception is found among Britons, for whom lower levels of income encourages naturalizing. In the voting process, higher levels of education encourage voter turnout for most immigrant groups. Though country of origin has a greater effect on naturalizing than on voting, it significantly impacts both types of political incorporation. The differing effects of country of origin and other demographic factors on naturalizing and voting, respectively, suggest the two processes are distinct from one another.

The Political Incorporation of Undocumented Youth

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 356-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom K Wong ◽  
Angela S García ◽  
Carolina Valdivia
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
Immigration Status ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Organizational Membership ◽  
The Many ◽  
Immigrant Political Incorporation ◽  
Politically Active

AbstractThis article develops and empirically tests a model of political incorporation for undocumented youth in the United States, focusing on nonvoting forms of political engagement. Using one of the first nationwide surveys of undocumented millennials between the ages of 18 and 35 (n = 1,472), we show that (1) undocumented youth express much higher levels of political efficacy and participation than the literature on immigrant political incorporation leads us to expect, (2) membership in organizations that work on immigration-related issues is a main determinant of this sense of political efficacy, and (3) through mediation analysis, that organizational membership (the mediator) influences how political efficacy affects political participation, and not the other way around. The literature on immigrant political incorporation is vast, but precedent studies too often focus on formal acts of political participation, such as naturalization and voting, by those with lawful immigration status. With an analytical focus on youth without lawful immigration status, this article contributes to theoretical and empirical knowledge about how and to what extent undocumented youth become politically active and engaged despite the many obstacles that exist to their formal participation in politics.

Diverse Pathways to Immigrant Political Incorporation

2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (9) ◽  
pp. 1123-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Mahler ◽  
Myer Siemiatycki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
States Immigration ◽  
Immigrant Political Incorporation ◽  
The Impact

In both Canada and the United States, immigration is producing major demographic and sociocultural changes. Yet relatively little research has been devoted to the impact of immigration on each country’s political life. Even less attention has been paid to comparing the patterns of immigrant political participation in both countries. This has left underinvestigated a host of important questions about the body politic of Canada and the United States: Measured at national, urban, and community scales, do immigrants in the two countries become integrated into formal politics such as voting and running for elected office? Are they engaged in more informal political activities such as community and ethnic organizing? If so, then how do various immigrant communities mobilize politically, form agendas and alliances, express their voices, and expand their opportunities? As more countries and cities around the world become immigration destinations, there is much to be learned about creating inclusive political systems from the comparative experience of Canada and the United States illustrated in this volume.

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