Immigrant Group Size and Political Mobilization: Evidence from European Migration to the United States

No 18827, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Immigration to democratic nations generates new groups of potential voters. This paper investigates how the electorate share of immigrant groups influences their likelihood of becoming politically mobilized, focusing on the mechanism of coalition formation with the Democratic Party. Using newly assembled data on ethnic enclaves in American cities at the start of the twentieth century, I show immigrants were more likely to mobilize politically as their share of the local electorate grew larger. This effect is driven by political mobilization in voting districts where the Democratic Party likely needed an immigrant group’s vote to win elections. I also consider the shape of the electorate share effect, showing it is nonlinear and consistent with a political economy model of coalition formation.

JEL-codes: D72 J15 N31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-mig, nep-pol and nep-ure
Note: DAE POL
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published as Allison Shertzer, 2016. "Immigrant group size and political mobilization: Evidence from European migration to the United States," Journal of Public Economics, .

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Journal Article: Immigrant group size and political mobilization: Evidence from European migration to the United States (2016)
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