Hey everyone, nice to meet you and thanks for Abhi’s kind introduction. For the next few weeks, I’ll be aiming to give an 18-year old desi perspective on politics, news, and general issues I think are important to my generation. In the lead up to the DNC, I’ll obviously be talking about youth involvement in politics, but there are many general interest issues that concern young desis and I’d appreciate your input for and on subjects – email anytime at ravi [at] sepiamutiny dot com.
Youth political interest in this election is certainly as high as it has been in a long while, and the rise of Barack Obama and presidency of George Bush have significantly contributed to this undeniable trend.
As I set out to confirm historic levels of young desi involvement in American politics, I met with a significant amount of trouble, as specific statistics on South Asian involvement are very hard to find (let me know if you find any!) However, CIRCLE (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), has done some interesting research on Asian American trends, and the results were interesting. A close examination of the CIRCLE (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) “Civic Engagement Among Minority Youth” survey (a PDF link), shows promising trends in the area of political participation –
- 15-25 year-old Asian-Americans have the highest rate of volunteerism for political candidates and groups of any ethnic group in the U.S.
- 15-25 year-old Asian-Americans have the highest rates of signing email petitions, boycotting and contacting officials of U.S. ethnic groups
- In 2006, 71.5% of young Asian-Americans reported a belief that “Government should do more to solve Problems,” the highest rate of youths of any ethnic group, as well as the highest confidence in government regulation of business
These are impressive statistics, and my personal experience has shown that South Asian youth involvement has grown far more this election year. The Obama campaign, in particular, has inspired young desis (including myself) to volunteer, campaign, opine, and raise awareness about the importance of this year’s election. His story, as the son of an immigrant father from Kenya who has risen to be Senator and now Democratic Nominee, could be the story of an Indian-American candidate at some time in the future.
Another campaign, however, had also generated considerable enthusiasm from young South Asians, and that was libertarian Ron Paul’s presidential campaign. Youth who are tired of reckless foreign intervention and misguided government spending have turned to Paul’s staunchly principled libertarian campaign as an ideal of what a true principled politician, and America, could stand for. The campaign had an Indian-American at the forefront of its grassroots effort:
Vijay Boyapati is perched on a snowy corner of Elm Street here late Sunday night, fielding other activists’ phone calls with frost-numbed fingers, and enthusiastically signaling passing motorists with Ron Paul signs. It’s a long way from the famously comfortable, stock-option-granting, lava-lamp-outfitted environment at Google, where Boyapati worked as a software engineer until quitting his job a few weeks ago to support Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s campaign for president.
Boyapati, 29, says he drew on lessons learned while building Google products to create the same kind of distributed volunteer network with the goal of drawing hundreds of Paul volunteers to New Hampshire. His effort’s name? Operation Live Free or Die, of course, a nod to the Granite State’s thoroughly libertarian motto.
Boyapati’s leadership role shows the increasing prominence of young desis in the political world (in addition to the omnipresent Bobby Jindal), a trend that has certainly been noticed on this site. Yet while South Asians are raising their profile throughout the American political world, there is still a great deal of work young South Asians must do to truly make their presence felt come Election Day. The CIRCLE study went on to point out two disappointing trends:
Only 36% of Asian Americans 18-24 voted in the 2004 presidential election, compared to 50% of White Americans and 47% of African Americans.
Asian-Americans aged 18-29 were the least likely to discuss current events and public affairs of any ethnic group
While I realize that results of an Asian-American survey could certainly be somewhat different from one specifically surveying South Asians, I see some truth in these trends. In my experience, many older immigrants have come from a subcontinent where political corruption is the norm, and it is often more effective to make a difference in society from outside the government. They pass on this ethic to their children, encouraging hard work, a successful commercial career, and giving back through charitable work and volunteerism. These are all, for the most part, excellent lessons to impart to young people, but the stories of Bobby Jindal, Ashwin Madhia, and other desis are showing young South Asians such as myself that one can truly affect change (for better or worse) through politics and government in this country.
The unprecedented excitement and involvement in this election has shown that trends are certainly changing, as older and younger desis gear up for one the most important elections of their lifetime. One of the most important ways that any South Asian, young or old, can make a difference and increase our group’s power as a bloc and a voice in American society is to get those voting rates up and REGISTER TO VOTE TODAY!
ravi, hope you are president one day.
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part V: Ron Paul Zombies on the Loose
Is there any data on desi involvement at a more local level? I know Houston has a Pakistani-American city councilman. There are other races that matter besides the presidential race. I wish news media and survey takers would pay more attention to these “closer to home” elections.
Ruchi, I hope you run for school board one day. Ravi, knock ’em dead.
Funny story: I attended the 1992 GOP convention in Houston as the Secretary of the local Asian Young Republican Caucus. I was a misguided 16 year old, what can I say? (It’s my own conversion narrative that gives me hope and patience for all those free-market fundamentalists I encounter on this site and beyond.)
In my experience, many older immigrants have come from a subcontinent where political corruption is the norm, and it is often more effective to make a difference in society from outside the government.
Welcome Ravi, and glad to see a really young viewpoint. Participating in the process of democracy is praise worthy.
However,
Percentage voting in India (and many other democracies around the world) is very high, they have been elections in India where 80-90 % of population voted. Also, general, India is very young country (average age of the population) compared to USA, and Europe.
Corruption aside, if you ever been in an election in India, it is a very big drama, festivities (and some violence too), and that only to be seen to be believed. Cities and villages come to standstill when there are elections.
Ravi, do you know if CIRCLE collected information by parental SES as well? I wonder to what extent these trends among Asian Americans (in pre-voting participation or interest) are class-driven, while voter “apathy” or low turn-out may fall under a different rubric. Does voter turnout spike in high school but then turn down in college?
Also, sorry, on the apathy note — there’s a lot of scholarship and conjecture out there that it has less to do with corruption at home and more to do with a desire not to “rock the boat” in one’s country of arrival. I have no idea what the evidence says, but I would venture a guess and say those who “self-select” into immigration are also more likely to be civically active or engaged relative to their peers.
Also INS(USCIS) is the first government bureau that a DBD interacts with and that interaction is at best frustrating, and at worst a nightmare.
i second camille’s point. you need to control for all the variables…. i looked at the gss for brownz and the sample is very small and probably mostly immigrant (explains rather weak vocab but high technical proficiency i think in the results when i queried variables). WE NEED MORE DATA DAMNIT!!! there is going to be a big diff among AAs between indian americans 18-25, whose parents are generally immigrants/DBDs, and japanese americans of the same demo, whose parents are usually 3rd generation american or more.
3 · Kush Tandon said
But I would still agree with Ravi’s statement that middle class, urban Indians who mostly immigrate are pathetic in terms of political involvement in politics in Desh as compared to second gen involvment in US politics. The people you are talking about kush are the Indian masses who don’t generally leave the country.
Btw Ravi, you would also be interested in this issue of Aspen Idea where the cover sports a desi and seems to deal with something of your interest possibly Our Next Generation: The Aspen Global Leadership Network
Impressively statist? Yes. Impressively intelligent? Not so much.
6 · dipanjan said
You forgot to mention that the DMV is the second & the IRS is the third. I guess the fond interactions with these agencies overcome any unpleasant feelings 🙂
Percentage Voters in India, and US, and other other countries like South Africa
Exhibit 1 US: From The Pew Center on the States
40 Percent Democracy
Elections are the backbone of democracy. But even with the recent upsurge in voter activism, many voters fail to turn out for House, Senate, and state elections meaning that those who do vote make the decisions for everyone else.
The long-term trend shows that 55 percent to 60 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in a presidential election, while about 40 percent of eligible voters vote in mid-term elections, when many governors and other state officers, as well as the U.S. House and one-third of the U.S. Senate are elected.
These figures—relatively unchanged during the past two decades—are far below that of other Western nations, many of which boast voter turnout rates in excess of 80 percent.
NOTE: You can find a lot of census/ scholarly work to show that most likely person to vote is a middle aged white man.
Exhibit 2: India vote statistics: From the Election Commission of India 1st 1952 – – 61.2 2nd 1957 – – 62.2 3rd 1962 63.31 46.63 55.42 4th 1967 66.73 55.48 61.33 5th 1971 60.90 49.11 55.29 6th 1977 65.63 54.91 60.49 7th 1980 62.16 51.22 56.92 8th 1984 68.18 58.60 63.56 9th 1989 66.13 57.32 61.95 10th 1991 61.58 51.35 56.93 11th 1996 62.06 53.41 57.94 12th 1998 1998 57.88 61.97 13th 1999 63.97 55.64 59.99
NOTE: Most important thing to note is that this is a national average for lok sabha, and often parts of India that are in violent phase, voter participation tends to be low, and this is included in national averages. Like in 1999, voter participation in Kashmir was 15%, and this holds for different parts of the country in different times (different elections). In localized % count, like George Fernandes election for MP from Bihar in 1977, had close to 90% eligible voter turnout. Also, states in assembly elections go higher in different times, if there local issues that energize people in those states.
Exhibit 3: South Africa
In 1999, 89% of their eligible voters voted. If they have 70% turnout in an election, people claim lower voter turn out.
Therefore, corruption, or lack of has nothing to do voter turn out, and participation in a democracy.
South Africa
In 1999, 89% of their registered voters voted
In 1994, 85% of their eligible voters voted
Something to keep in mind, in these, statistics, is difference between eligible, and registered
I think Indian statistics from Election Commission is from eligible voters, since in India, eligible, and registered voters are basically determined from the same source – good old ration card. Note the median age of India is 24.2 years.
9 · rob said
that’s cause they all went to harvard, rob.
In India, it should be noted that much of that high turnout is due to pure ethnic and caste based voting (only in India do you not cast your vote, you vote your caste) As support, I cite “In Spite of the Gods” by Edward Luce. He observes that many Indian voters do not even know one position of the candidate they are voting for- all they know is that they were told his or her name by their village headman/local don.
Also, I’d like more info on those circle statistics- how did they collect the data? For that matter, how did they get that “least likely to discuss politics” datum? Did they ask them the average amount of time spent discussing it each week? If so, cultural differences in perception of time spent doing anything could have skewed the data- for that, I don’t remember the study at the moment, but it associated greater math abilities with the ability to more accurately tell time. Since asian americans have, I would believe, better math skills, perhaps a cultural bias that underestimates time spent discussing politics?
In India, it should be noted that much of that high turnout is due to pure ethnic and caste based voting (only in India do you not cast your vote, you vote your caste) As support, I cite “In Spite of the Gods” by Edward Luce. He observes that many Indian voters do not even know one position of the candidate they are voting for- all they know is that they were told his or her name by their village headman/local don.
I am myself reading Edward Luce right now, as much as he is an engrossing read, in some places, he is completely off, and does not understand the complexity of India at all.
First, he is forgetting that in a constituency (say, it is dominated by caste X or religion Y), all the candidates by different parties (national as well as region – Congress, BJP, SP, Telugu Desam – no political party ever puts up a candidate on the wrong side of the caste/ religion equation ever except when you field a Bollywood star or iconic leader, be it MGR, Jaya Amma, Gandhis, etc.) will put up their candidates of caste X or religion Y.
This is not to say, caste and religion politics does not play part in Indian elections – it plays a very important part – that is how candidates are selected – but not the way Edward Luce claims – incumbents loose a lot in Indian elections – how can one be elected one elections one time, and loose the subsequent election next time, if they happen to be the right caste – Do the caste changes in 4 years? As much I am enjoying reading Luce, in few things, I would take him with a huge grain of salt.
Sure, the massive electorate is not at all concerned about fine points of the positions of the candidates – they are in large part driven by cult of personality in Indian elections. Often that cult of personality comes from the top, be it Sonia Gandhi, Jaya Amma, MGR, NT Rama Rao, Sheikh Abdullah, Mayawati, etc. Local cult of personality leaders can even people like George Fernandes, who was once a firebrand union leader.
However, 1978, and 1999 elections in India have shown, they (Indian electorate) can be very sophisticated in their own ways, if they thinks issues deeply touch them – be it personal freedom, forced sterilization, or being left out from “India shinning”. Trust me, May 2009 elections, will be depend on double digit inflation there right now.
Issues…………….I guess, all the gerrymandering (where some constituencies here look like snakes), Horton ad in 1988, Swift Vets in 2004, and “Is Barack Hussien Obama a Muslim”, are driving election as an issue based here.
He observes that many Indian voters do not even know one position of the candidate they are voting for- all they know is that they were told his or her name by their village headman/local don.
There, it is the village headman doing the sell………
Here, it is the Sunday sermon the weekend before the election.
9 · rob said
i agree.
Welcome to U.S.S.A.
M. Nam
9 · rob said
Most of the Asian-Americans are Chinese/Korean pbly, from a Confucian background that favors a strong state/obedience
Please tell me you are joking.
20 · Camille said
Nope. I urge you to talk to your second gen friends about human rights/freedom of speech in China etc. and see for yourself
Dear Kush, I would suggest not to rely too much on the likes of Luce for understanding voting in India. I have now stood in line on election day for many years with many ‘villagers’. They have a great understanding of the complexity of their choice and have been remarkably astute in using the ballot box.
I don’t think Americans are that much more sophisticated than Indians. Indians vote for the best interest of their caste…disappointing but rational when you are living hand to mouth. But let’s look at “Nascar dads”, why the hell do they vote Repub? How is that in their interests? It’s a triumph of mktg. I have occassionally voted Repub at state & local levels but I can afford it (unlike Nascar dads).
welcome, ravi! janki told me to keep an eye out for you. am looking forward to your posts!
14 · Vamsi Aribindi said
Vamsi, I think you make a good point here. The points made by others about India having a vibrant democracy are without a doubt very true, and it is most certainly something to be proud of, but at the same time it is most definitely a work in progress. I encourage everyone who is interested in the statistical gathering to take a look at the PDF (I’d also be glad to email it), which specifies the exact methods in which data is gathered. Again – if you have more specific stats then I will certainly update/write a more specifically based post!
For more reference on transparency and corruption in Indian Politics I encourage everyone to look at this link: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781359.html. India has a transparency index score on par with China and Mexico at 3.5, good for a world ranking of 72nd, and far below the “borderline” index of 5.0. The index ” defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country’s public officials and politicians,” thus involving the subject of perception which I discussed earlier.
Hello Ravi, as someone a little older, I disagree with this statement very strongly based on how disillusioned I’ve become with the process (but not with politics and with people). I want to say that it’s more important to look at ideas and ideology and experiences that people have than about your ethnic representation when it comes to politics. “South Asian” can happen to be a good way to motivate any kind of politics (from Democratic or Republican party politics to Marxism), but you have to be clear about your politics and why you’re pursuing them. With my politics, why would I want to get a South Asian investment banker involved in politics rather than a guestworker in Katrina rebuilding?
Secondly, voting can often be a fairly ineffective way for any bloc in society (whehther ideological or social or some combination of the two) to secure their interests unless its complemented (or even replaced) by all kinds of other activities, from external pressure to possibly outright rebellion (esp. if they have no right to vote, as many South Asians don’t). Would recommend Poor People’s Movements by Piven and Cloward. I used to do electoral work in high school and all the way through college and am still involved in different ways (like commenting on OpenLeft.com), and it’s good to open your mind to those as well.
You’re attributing the (potential) political leanings and understandings of recent Chinese and Korean immigrants with large historic third+ generation Chinese-Americans. It also ignores migrants who come under political asylum, through third country pathways, or for other reasons. My contention is that you’re making a sweeping demographic generalization with little evidence or justification.
Camille: No academic is going to do research that might support a non-PC hypothesis so unfortunately I am not going to be able to find data that’s going to satisfy you. You can’t critique China or its diaspora the way you can India. Most South Asianists throw the word fascist around to describe India & Indians. But how has China, a state that aggressively pushes the interests of the Han ethnic group, escaped that categorization?
23 · louiecypher said
yep. only in america would whining that the winner of a popularity contest is boohoo.. too popular.. work. and heck, they voted for dubya in 2004!
14 · Vamsi Aribindi said
Yeah, that’s why the U.P. Brahmins voted as a bloc for Mayawati. It’s also funny how you use the term “village headman”. I have to ask have you even been to an Indian village? At least the ones I’m familiar with don’t have a headman of any sort. Influential people? Yes. And please, give some credit to Indians. Not all of them are swayed by “local dons”. True, India needs great improvement but don’t get it twisted.
30 · NYC Chatwala said
actually that vote is caste based – here’s one take on mayawati’s caste politics. if you don’t like this one, take your pick of articles.