The Ties that Bind: Assessing the Effects of Political and Racial Church Homogeneity on Asian American Political Participation

Abstract

Research consistently emphasizes the importance of religious institutions for influencing political action among Asian Americans. The social capital literature offers two theoretical explanations for why churches increase political activity: bridging capital between different groups and bonding capital among similar groups. The latter argues that individuals who attend racially homogeneous churches are more participatory. This paper expands on these accounts by examining another aspect of bonding. That is, how does similarity in political views among church members affect Asian Americans' political participation? Results from the 2016 Collaborative Multi-Racial Post-Election Survey show that Asian Americans who attend politically homogeneous churches are more likely to vote and participate in conventional activities. The effects of racial homogeneity are limited once taking political homogeneity into consideration. These findings provide evidence that political homophily within religious organizations may facilitate the bonding of social capital between racial/ethnic minorities, and this homophily is indeed salient to democratic participation.

Political Inequality in the Digital World: The Puzzle of Asian American Political Participation Online

“…The argument made here complements Chan and Phoenix’s (2020) finding that racial group ties developed within civic organizations have limited influence on Asian Americans’ offline participation.…”

Structural Cohesion, Role Equivalence, or Homophily: Which Process Best Explains Social Homogeneity?

“…Finally, an outstanding result referring to the third working hypothesis contrary to the evidence reported in previous studies was that the levels of PSC identified in the second cluster characterized by high levels of heterophily were significantly higher than those observed in the cluster characterized by a moderate level of homophily. The literature suggests that homophily is a precursor of social homogeneity [ 38 , 49 , 50 ], so one would expect to identify higher levels of PSC in the first cluster compared to the second, which was not the case. This fact may be due to several factors that should be taken into consideration to establish the configuration of the teams that implement this type of program.…”

“…Different studies show that homophily leads to social homogeneity [ 49 , 50 ]. Homophily and heterophily occur through the activation of two psychosocial processes operating simultaneously: selection and influence [ 51 , 52 , 53 ].…”

New Directions in the Study of Asian American Politics, Part II: Political Behavior

“…Whereas voting is one important form of political involvement, scholars have challenged the field to construct political participation more broadly and explore action beyond the ballot box (Lien et al 2001). During a 20-year period, scholarship in Asian American politics has examined a wide range of activities, including voting, donating to political organizations, contacting government officials, protesting, and signing petitions (Chan and Phoenix 2020;Lien 2010;Masuoka, Ramanathan, and Junn 2019;Phoenix and Arora 2018;Sadhwani 2020;Sui and Paul 2017;Wong et al 2011). Although existing work has made important contributions toward understanding Asian American political participation, much of this research overlooks the digital space.…”