Analysis On The Political Participation Of Chinese Americans

In the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural American society, the political participation and its influence of an ethnic minority group has always been a crucial criterion for its integrating into American mainstream society. As the world-renowned "model minority", Chinese Americans have gained extraordinary population growth and remarkable achievements in fields of education, economy and cultural exchanges. The 1965 Civil Rights Act and Voting Act have provided every ethnic minority group the right of equal participation in American politics. Indeed, some outstanding representatives of Chinese Americans have actively involved in American politics and achieved significant outcomes in the past few decades. However, compared with other ethnic groups, the political influence of Chinese Americans is still limited. In fact, Chinese Americans are still politically marginalized to a large extent. They have historically been regarded as a small group with low voting rate and weak political awareness by the mainstream American society. Although the Chinese group has made obvious progresses in the last three successive U.S. presidential elections-their rising voting rate and growing political enthusiasm, its influence on U.S. politics and policies hasn't increased correspondingly. This paper gives a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the political participation and power of Chinese Americans in the United States from the following aspects:the historical development of American race and ethnic relations, the historical experience of Chinese immigrants in the United States, the development of Chinese-American socio-economic status, the demographic characteristics of the Chinese community, the cultural identity of Chinese Americans, Chinese Americans'democratic consciousness and political participation, the political participation of Chinese-American elites and its influence, the influence of Sino-US relations on the life of Chinese community and the political and electoral system in America.