by Janelle S. Wong

August 2004

“This study examines the effects of mobilization on political participation among Asian Americans. It focuses on whether telephone and mail canvassing increases voter turnout among Asian Americans who live in high-density Asian American areas in Los Angeles County. Prior to the November 5, 2002 elections, a randomized voter mobilization field experiment was conducted. Lists of registered Asian Americans (Chinese, Korean, Indian, Filipino, and Japanese) were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. A few days before Election Day, the treatment group received a phone call or postcard encouraging them to vote. After the election, voter turnout records were reviewed to compare turnout rates for the treatment and control groups. The results of the study show that telephone calls and mail canvassing increased voter turnout for Chinese Americans and that the effects of contact vary greatly by ethnicity and geographic context.”

Download here (PDF).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004 at 7:00 pm and is filed under Race, Gender, and Immigrant Status, Working Papers, Youth Voting/Political Participation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.