Learning Civic Engagement: Political Socialization in Chinese, Vietnamese, and Mexican-Origin Families with Mixed Citizenship Status

Social scientists have long recognized that the family is an important source of political socialization. In the traditional framework, the older generation transmits a political orientation, specific policy attitudes, as well as a general propensity to be politically active to the younger generation. But how might this process differ for immigrant families, given that the older generation does not necessarily have a greater knowledge of the nation’s political system? When it comes to the immigrant experience, are the assumptions of the traditional model turned on their head?

In a previous Russell Sage funded study of Mexican-origin families in the San Francisco Bay area, Bruce Cain and Irene Bloemraad found that limited English skills, a lack of familiarity with the U.S. political system, and even legal status, did not prevent parents from developing a sense of civic and political engagement. Parents’ engagement in politics was in part-mediated by their teen-aged children, who often acted as translators. Now, Bloemraad will extend the previous investigation of political socialization within mixed-status families to include Chinese and Vietnamese origin families. As in the pilot project, research will involve in-depth qualitative interviews, this time with 40 Chinese and 20 Vietnamese families, as well as with a sub-sample of the original Mexican families. Data analysis will focus on the ways in which immigrant cultures, legal status, and family dynamics influence or structure political socialization and engagement.