Identity and its Appeals in American Politics

Identity and its Appeals in American Politics

Presented by the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society

Some scholars have expressed doubts about the significance of linked fate and/or pan-ethnicity for the political behavior of Latinos and Asian Americans, but there has been little progress in deciphering the factors that do matter. I address the debate by conducting two original survey experiments of Latinos and Asian Americans on vote choice. The study featured a randomized experiment in which each study participant was shown a pair of fictious candidates running for a city council position (1) making appeals to the pan-ethnic identity (e.g., Latino/Hispanic, Asian American), (2) appealing to the ethnic origin identity, or (3) appealing to the American identity by means of candidate endorsement. I demonstrate that appeals to ethnic identity are more influential than appeals to pan-ethnic identity, arguing that the former reflect people’s lived experiences while pan-ethnic identities are constructed racial categories that members of the Latino/Hispanic and Asian American groups have learned to adopt. These findings raise new questions about the nuances of group identity and group membership on minority political engagement.