Asian American Political Participation In The 2008 Presidential Election

This thesis is a study of Asian American political participation in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. On the basis of the data and materials collected from various sources, it examines individual Asian American participation in the 2008 presidential election in terms of registration and voter turnout, dealing with both their performance, and the contributing and hindering factors. Moreover, it also explores the Asian American political participation in organized groups and the elite performance of Asian Americans in this election.The study finds that Asian Americans have made great achievements in political participation. Their registration and voter turnout rates have set a record high in history compared with their own political performance in the past; the Asian American organized groups have conducted various campaigns with the purpose of promoting mass political participation for Asian Americans; and the quantity and quality have been imporved concerning Asian American elite political participation. On the other hand, there are some deficiencies concerning Asian American political participation: Their political participation at mass level are quite inadequate in terms of registration and voter turnout compared with other major ethnic groups; there are no overall cooperation among Asian American organized groups , and the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in congress still exists.