A Rising Star Representing Asian Americans: The 80/20 Initiative

In the United States, Asian Americans are called the model minority. However, few Asian Americans became leaders in federal, State and local governments. More and more Asian Americans realized this glass-ceiling commonly appeared in many fields, especially when it comes to higher positions for Asian Americans. Although Asian Americans have only limited political influence in the political field with a rather smaller proportion of population, 80/20 Initiative can make more Asian Americans become aware of the role they can play in the political process. And other Asian American groups could learn from 80/20's experience. Therefore, My study argues that the 80/20 Initiative is a potential interest group and it will have a growing influence on Asian American political participation in the future by its internal cohesion, external clout and advantage as compared with other Asian American groups.The first part will focus on the internal cohesion of 80/20 Initiative. Theories related to interest group are employed to the analysis of 80/20 Initiative's internal cohesion. A potential and stable group requires internal cohesion. The cohesion of a group can be reflected in its membership, leadership. The second part will display the external clout of this organization, which can be reflected in its influence in social realm and in political realm. Specific cases are selected to show how 80/20 Initiative managed to have political clout. The last part tries to highlight the advantage of the 80/20 by comparing with other Asian American interest groups, so as to show its power in the management of internet and its effectiveness in contacting mass. And to uncover its uniqueness in promoting Asian American's political participation.