| Ethnicity persists in American politics. However, while ethnic consciousness has been widely recognized, it has not been equally important in shaping the political capacities and pespectives of all ethnic groups. Every ethnic group has its unique experience of political development. This thesis is an exploration of the patterns of ethnic change that are associated with the process of Chinese American political development.; A theoretical framework of ethnic identity and ethnic political development is proposed to explain the experience of Chinese American political development. Two basic hypotheses are developed. First, it is hypothesized that the environment (both internal and external) is an important determinant of ethnic change. Second, during each stage of ethnic political development, there is a certain type of group identity associated with Chinese American political development. A combination of participant observation and relevant field techniques, such as in-depth interviews, documentary analyses, and survey research, were used for data collection. Twenty leaders of the Chicago Chinese community were interviewed in depth. Another one hundred Chinese Americans were systematically surveyed.; The results reveal, first, that a cultural pluralist environment, along with the rise of a middle class Chinese American population, contributes to change in the Chinese American identity. Chinese American group identity has become more instrumentalized and more politicized. Second, the instrumentalization and politicization of the Chinese American group identity, in turn, results in political consolidation among Chinese Americans.; In conclusion, political consolidation among Chinese Americans is found to be only a sign of the nascent development of political capacity of Chinese Americans rather than an indicator of their established strength. |
