Age, Resistance, and Political Learning in a New Environment: The Case of Canadian Immigrants

The Scope of Political Participation

“…As it has already been pointed out (Bilodeau and Nevitte 2003;Black et al 1987), political experiences in both the home and host countries are crucial and might have a considerable effect on people's perspectives and actions toward politics, authority and power. Similar to other immigrants who arrived in Canada during their adulthood, Latin American immigrants had been politically socialized in a different milieu.…”

“…In addition, those respondents who were already mature adults and politically active in their countries of origin had higher levels of involvement than younger ones in communal activities, contacting politicians and partisanship (Black et al 1987). In a more recent study, Bilodeau and Nevitte (2003) point out that, compared to people born in Canada, immigrants from non-democratic countries were more satisfied with the performance of Canadian institutions, and these more positive evaluations led them to have greater confidence in the political institutions than people born in Canada (Bilodeau and Nevitte 2003, p. 29).…”

“…Analyzing the effects of previous political involvement on the political participation of immigrants to Canada, Black et al (1987) found that those immigrants with previous political experience in their countries of origin were much more likely to develop partisan interests and political activities in their new environment. In addition, those respondents who were already mature adults and politically active in their countries of origin had higher levels of involvement than younger ones in communal activities, contacting politicians and partisanship (Black et al 1987).…”

Growth trajectories in the strength of party identification: The legacy of autocratic regimes

“…Particularly studies on the development of party identification in immigrants highlight the importance of the length of exposure to a new political system (Black et al, 1987;Cain et al, 1991;Cho, 1999;Jones-Correa, 1998;Ramakrishnan and Espenshade, 2001;Wong, 2000). The idea behind the mobilizing effects of passive political exposure is that the dissemination of information through interpersonal communication and public news increases people's contextual knowledge of political processes and actors.…”

The Politics of Muslims in America

“…According to the theory of transferability, immigrants are highly affected by past experiences in their homelands as they operate within new environments (Black, Niemi, and, Powell 1987). The specific contexts to which immigrants move are not as important as their predispositions toward politics in their native lands.…”