Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T05:40:21.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Voter registration and political knowledge among American Indians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2021

Jeffrey W. Koch*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, State University of New York, Geneseo, NY, 14454, USA
*
Corresponding author: email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This research utilizes a valuable data source to explain voter registration and political knowledge by Native Americans, testing theories of the political engagement of minority populations. After taking account of socio-economic resources, American Indians exhibit lower rates of voter registration and political knowledge compared to Caucasians but similar to that of Hispanics. Relative to other racial groups, military service greatly enhances American Indian political knowledge and voter registration. This finding is especially noteworthy given American Indians' high rate of military service.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrajano, MA and Alvarez, RM (2012) New Faces, New Voices: The Hispanic Electorate in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Astor, M (2018) In North Dakota, Native Americans Try to Turn an ID Law to Their Advantage. New York Times. October 30 2018.Google Scholar
Barber, B (1984) Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Barker, L, Jones, M and Tate, K (1998) African Americans in the American Political System. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Barreto, MA (2007) Isí Se Puede! Latino Candidates and the Mobilization of Latino Voters. American Political Science Review 101, 425–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartels, LM (1996) Uninformed votes: information effects in presidential elections. American Journal of Political Science 40, 194230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartels, LM (1998) Where the ducks are: voting power in a party system. In Geer, J (ed.), Politicians and Party Politics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 4379.Google Scholar
Bedolla, LG (2005) Fluid Borders: Latino Power, Identity, and Politics in Los Angeles. Berkeley: University California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bobo, L and Gilliam, FD (1990) Race, sociopolitical participation, and black empowerment. American Political Science Review 84, 377393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Converse, PE (1964) The nature of belief systems in mass publics. In Apter, DE (ed.), Ideology and Discontent. New York: Free Press of Glencoe, pp. 206261.Google Scholar
Corntassel, J and Witmer, RC (2008) Forced Federalism: Contemporary Challenges to Indigenous Nationhood. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar
Delli Carpini, MX and Keeter, S (1996) What Americans Know about Politics and Why It Matters. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Deloria, V Jr (1979) Self-determination and the concept of sovereignty. In Roxanne Doherty, Steven. (1994). Native American Voting Behavior. Paper presented at the 1994 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago.Google Scholar
Deloria, V (1979) Economic development in American Indian reservations. In Dunbar-Ortiz, R (ed.), Native American Studies. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico.Google Scholar
Doherty, S (1994) Native American Voting Behavior. Midwest Political Science Association Annual MeetingGoogle Scholar
Duffy, D (1997) An attitudinal study of Native American Patriotism. Unpublished paper presented at the International Society for Political Psychology Services, Krakow, Poland.Google Scholar
Ellison, CG (1992) Military background, racial orientation, and political participation among black adult males. Social Science Quarterly 73, 361–78.Google Scholar
Evans, L (2011) Expertise and scale of conflict: governments as advocates in American Indian politics. American Political Science Review 105, 663–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraga, BL (2018) The Turnout Gap: Race, Ethnicity, and Political Inequality in A Diversifying America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gamson, WA (1975) The Strategy of Social Protest. Homewood, Illinois: Dorsey Press.Google Scholar
Gay, C (2001) The effect of black congressional representation on political participation. American Political Science Review 95, 589602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, AS, Green, DP and Larimer, CW (2008) Social pressure and voter turnout: evidence from a large-scale field experiment. American Political Science Review 102, 3348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hajnal, Z and Lee, T (2011) Why Americans Don't Join the Party: Race, Immigration, and the Failure (of Political Parties) to Engage the Electorate. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, F (1999) Something Within: Religion in African-American Political Activism. Oxford University PressGoogle Scholar
Heaney, M and Rojas, F (2015) Party in the Street: The Antiwar Movement and the Democratic Party After 9/11. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrick, R (2018) Gender gaps in identity and political attitudes among American Indians. Politics and Gender 14, 186207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holiday, LF, Bell, G, Klein, RE and Wells, MR (2006) American Indian and Alaskan native veterans: lasting contributions. U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Available at http://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/SpecialReports/AIANpaper9-12-06final.pdf.Google Scholar
Holm, T (1996) Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls: Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Huyser, KR, Sanchez, GR and Vargas, ED (2016) Civic engagement and political participation among American Indians and Alaska natives in the U.S. Politics, Groups, and Identities 5, 642659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johansen, BE (2015) Native Americans: voting for sovereignty and treaty rights. In Kreider, KL and Baladino, T (eds), Minority Voting in the United States. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger, pp. 2640.Google Scholar
Junn, J and Masuoka, N (2008) Asian American identity: shared racial status and political context. Perspectives on Politics 6, 729–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessler-Mata, K (2017) American Indians and the Trouble with Sovereignty: A Turn toward Structural Self-Determination. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koch, JW (2016) Partisanship and Non-partisanship among American Indians. American Politics Research 45, 673–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lau, RR and Redlawsk, DP (2006) How Voters Decide: Information Processing During Election Campaigns. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leal, D (1999) It's not just a Job: military service and Latino political participation. Political Behavior 21, 153–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leal, D (2003) The multicultural military: military service and the acculturation of Latinos and Anglos. Armed Forces and Society 29, 205–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leighley, JE (2001) Strength in Numbers?: The Political Mobilization of Racial and Ethnic Minorities. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leighley, JE and Nagler, J (2013) Who Votes Now? Demographics, Issues, Inequality, and Turnout in the United States. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovell, J and Hicks Stiehm, J (1988) Military service and political socialization. In Sigel, R (ed.), Political Learning in Adulthood. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 172202.Google Scholar
Masuoka, N and Junn, J (2013) The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and Immigration. University of Chicago PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAdam, D (1982) Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Mettler, SB (2005) Soldiers to Citizens: The G.I. Bill and the Making of the Greatest Generation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, AH, Gurin, P, Gurin, G and Malanchuk, O (1981) Group consciousness and political participation. American Journal of Political Science 25, 494511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Min, J and Savage, D (2012) The influence of socio-economic characteristics on the political attitudes of American Indians. Social Science Journal 49, 494502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Min, J and Savage, D (2014) Why do American Indians vote democratic? Social Science Journal 51, 167–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mondak, JJ (1999) Reconsidering the measurement of political knowledge. Political Analysis 8, 5782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nesbit, R and Reingold, DA (2011) Soldiers to citizens: the link between military service and volunteering. Public Administration Review 71, 6776.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantoja, AD and Segura, GM (2003) Fear and loathing in California: contextual threat and political sophistication among Latino voters. Political Behavior 25, 265286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, C (2009) Fighting for Democracy: Black Veterans and the Struggle Against White Supremacy in the Postwar South. Princeton University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, G (1997) Native American turnout in the 1990 and 1992 elections. American Indian Quarterly 21, 321–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, V and Zaller, JR (1993) Who gets the news? Alternative measure of news reception and their implications for research. Public Opinion Quarterly 57, 133164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, UJ and Soherr-Hadwiger, D (1996) Kivas, casinos, and campaigns: Effects of casino participation in New Mexico. Paper presented at the Western Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
Riseman, N (2012) Defending Whose Country? Indigenous Soldiers in the Pacific War. Omaha: University of Nebraska Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenstone, SJ and Hansen, JM (1993) Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy. New York: Macmillan Press.Google Scholar
Rosier, PC (2009) Serving Their Country: American Indian Politics and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaeffer, NC (1991) Hardly ever or constantly? Group comparisons using vague quantifiers. Public Opinion Quarterly 55, 395423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoker, L and Jennings, MK (1995) Life-cycle transitions and political participation: the case of marriage. American Political Science Review 89, 421–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stubben, JD (2006) Native Americans and Political Participation. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO.Google Scholar
Tarrow, S (2011) Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teigen, JM (2006) Enduring effects of the uniform: previous military experience and voting turnout. Political Research Quarterly 59, 601–07.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Towler, CC and Parker, CS (2018) Between anger and engagement: Donald Trump and black America. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 3, 219253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verba, S, Lehman Schlozman, K and Brady, H (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkins, D and Stark, HK (2018) American Indian Politics and the American Political System. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Witmer, RC (2015) Issues and American Indian voting. In Kreider, KL and Baladino, T (eds), Minority Voting in the United States. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger, pp. 4157.Google Scholar
Witmer, RC and Boehmke, F (2007) American Indian political incorporation in the post-Indian gaming regulatory era. Social Science Journal 44, 127–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, J, Lien, P-t and Margaret Conway, M (2005) The role of group-based resources in the political participation of Asian Americans. American Politics Research 33, 545–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Koch supplementary material

Koch supplementary material

Download Koch supplementary material(File)
File 42.2 KB