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Asian Americans the New 'Sleeping Giant' in California Politics
In the 1980s and 1990s, Hispanics were considered the "sleeping giant" in California politics because of their growing numbers. Now Asian Americans are at a point where Hispanics were about two decades ago, according to an analysis conducted by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the UC Asian American and Pacific Islander Policy Initiative.
The analysis uses data from the 2005 American Community Survey recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau, along with previously released data.
Asian Americans have significantly increased their potential power at the polls in California, according to the analysis. The number of Asian Americans in California eligible to register to vote - that is, citizens who are 18 and older - climbed by over half a million between 2000 and 2005, from 2 million to 2.5 million. That boosted their share from 10 percent to 12 percent of the state's population of eligible voters.
"This growth has contributed to the increasing number of Asian American state and elected officials in California," said Don Nakanishi, director of UCLA's Asian American Studies Center. "The Asian American political infrastructure of voters, donors, politicians and community groups also has undergone remarkable growth and maturation, and will likely have an increasingly significant impact on state and national politics."
Two factors behind the emergence of the new "sleeping giant" are the overall increase in the total Asian American population and the higher rate of citizenship, researchers said. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of Asian Americans residing in California's households increased from 3.8 million to 4.7 million, accounting for 38 percent of the net gain of 2.2 million persons in California's population.
Along with population growth, Asian Americans experienced an increase in their citizenship rate: 71 percent of Asian Americans adults are U.S. citizens by birth or naturalization, representing an increase from 67 percent in 2000, researchers said. These figures show that Asian Americans have become fully integrated into American society through citizenship.
The growth in the potential Asian American electorate over the last five years is a continuation of a pattern that began in the 1990s. In 1990, there were slightly more than 1 million Asian American adult citizens, comprising about 6 percent of all adult citizens in the state. If recent trends continue, there will be over 3 million Asian American adults by the end of the current decade, making up about 14 percent of all Californians eligible to register to vote.
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http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=34e605ab88db88a3ed42473c958fe8e5
Asian Americans have significantly increased their potential power at the polls in California, according to the analysis. The number of Asian Americans in California eligible to register to vote - that is, citizens who are 18 and older - climbed by over half a million between 2000 and 2005, from 2 million to 2.5 million. That boosted their share from 10 percent to 12 percent of the state's population of eligible voters.
"This growth has contributed to the increasing number of Asian American state and elected officials in California," said Don Nakanishi, director of UCLA's Asian American Studies Center. "The Asian American political infrastructure of voters, donors, politicians and community groups also has undergone remarkable growth and maturation, and will likely have an increasingly significant impact on state and national politics."
Two factors behind the emergence of the new "sleeping giant" are the overall increase in the total Asian American population and the higher rate of citizenship, researchers said. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of Asian Americans residing in California's households increased from 3.8 million to 4.7 million, accounting for 38 percent of the net gain of 2.2 million persons in California's population.
Along with population growth, Asian Americans experienced an increase in their citizenship rate: 71 percent of Asian Americans adults are U.S. citizens by birth or naturalization, representing an increase from 67 percent in 2000, researchers said. These figures show that Asian Americans have become fully integrated into American society through citizenship.
The growth in the potential Asian American electorate over the last five years is a continuation of a pattern that began in the 1990s. In 1990, there were slightly more than 1 million Asian American adult citizens, comprising about 6 percent of all adult citizens in the state. If recent trends continue, there will be over 3 million Asian American adults by the end of the current decade, making up about 14 percent of all Californians eligible to register to vote.
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=34e605ab88db88a3ed42473c958fe8e5
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