A Study Of Political Participation By Chinese-America In The United States In Contemporary Era (1965-2004)

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Immigration Act and Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed by President Johnson made Chinese Americans have equal rights to participate in political activities. With the growth of Chinese Americans' population, the rise of their social economical status, and the awakening of their consciousness to participate in politics, they have achieved remarkable success in political participation in the past 40 years.Firstly, this dissertation reviews the political participation activities by Chinese Americans before 1965, which are analyzed in two aspects: non-election political participation and election political participation. Non-election political participation is the main characteristic in the era.Secondly, the dissertation analyzes the objective and subjective factors that affect the political participation by Chinese Americans, the means and models to participate in election politics by Chinese American elites, the history and present situations and political activities by Chinese Americans' political associations, the pluralistic means of political participation by Chinese Americans, and the comparison between Chinese Americans' and other American minorities' political participation in contemporary era in detail.Finally, the dissertation summarizes the present problems and barriers of Chinese Americans' political participation in contemporary era, and points out the right routes for Chinese Americans to participate in politics in the future in the theoretical perspective of political participation by American minorities.