The Disappearing Turnout Gap between Native Americans and Non-Native Americans

Skopek, Tracy A.; Garner, Andrew

doi:10.17953/aicr.38.2.lth8l2314u772j47

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…That said, we see that many of the socio-economic variables commonly identified in political participation models for the more general population are relevant to the AI/AN population (Min and Savage 2014, Skopek and Garner 2014). For example, being married, having higher education levels, and household size are important predictors of political participation for AI/ANs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Civic engagement and political participation among American Indians and Alaska natives in the US

Huyser

Sánchez

Vargas

2016

Politics, Groups, and Identities

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Within the growing literature seeking to understand civic and political engagement among racial and ethnic minorities, our understanding of political behavior among American Indian and Alaska Native’s (AI/AN) remains limited. We use the Current Population Survey Civic Engagement and Voting and Registration supplements (2006-2012) to compare AI/AN voter registration, voting, and overall civic engagement to other racial and ethnic groups and to assess whether factors that predict higher levels of civic engagement vary across these populations. We find a few key socio-economic status indicators that predict civic and political engagement uniquely for AI/ANs, but they are not consistently significant across all years or all types of political participation. We find marital status, age, household size, education, and veteran status to be important in predicting civic engagement for AI/ANs. However, for voting and registration, we find that family income, age, marital status, household size, and residential stability to be important contributors. Although we find AI/ANs are less likely to register and vote compared to non-Hispanic whites, we find that the difference is not statistically significant in congressional years, which may suggest that AI/ANs are engaged in local politics and vote for representatives that will represent their tribal interests in national politics.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Civic engagement and political participation among American Indians and Alaska natives in the US

Huyser

Sánchez

Vargas

2016

Politics, Groups, and Identities

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“…The available research on Native American political behavior tells us that Native Americans are less likely to register to vote and vote than other racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States (Huyser et al 2017; Peterson 1997). But the turnout gap of Native Americans has declined significantly over time and may depend on electoral cycle (Skopek and Garner 2014). There is some evidence that Native Americans turn out in greater rates during congressional election years, possibly because these elections matter more for local representation (Huyser et al 2017).…”

Section: Native American Political Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Sovereign Bodies: Native Nations, Native American Women, and the Politics of 2018

Sánchez

Foxworth

Evans

2020

Political Research Quarterly

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What did Native American women and men voters think about Donald Trump on the eve of the 2018 election? This question has important implications for understanding the gendered political attitudes of peoples adversely targeted by Trump’s politics. To examine this issue, we analyze a path-breaking, nationally representative sample of six hundred Native American voters. We find that Native Americans’ attitudes about sexual harassment are central to their attitudes about politics and policy in the Trump era. This relationship suggests that Native American voters are an informed electorate influenced by the president’s words and actions. Our work demonstrates multiple ways that gender influenced Native American politics during an election where gender and racial identities were central. In so doing, our work illuminates how race, institutions, and vulnerability affect the political attitudes of Native American voters, one of the least studied groups in American politics.

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“…Finally, similar to other ethnic and racial minorities, American Indians do not vote in national and state elections as often (Peterson ). Despite the historically lower levels of voter turnout, recent research has demonstrated that this traditional voting “gap” has narrowed in recent years to the point where American Indian turnout in presidential elections is statistically indistinguishable from the rest of the citizenry (Skopek and Garner ). Moreover, the Skopek and Garner () study also finds that American Indians were more likely to care which party wins the election, were slightly more interested in the elections, and had higher levels of political information than they had before 1990.…”

Section: Tribal Political Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These economic gains combined with shifts in the Republican Party stance on Indian gaming and court rulings that increase the power of state legislatures to regulate the gaming industry could impact the voting behavior of American Indians who benefit from gaming (i.e., those who live in legislative districts that have built and maintain casinos). Moreover, political participation among American Indians has increased significantly over the past several decades, increasing the electoral significance of American Indians in state elections (Skopek and Garner ). We argue that, partly as a result of these trends, American Indians will seek to influence policies at the state level to protect and grow gaming enterprises.…”

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confidence: 99%

Indian Gaming: The Declining Democratic Advantage in State Legislative Elections

Garner

Skopek

2015

Politics & Policy

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As policy making for Indian gaming and other tribal issues has shifted from the federal government to state politics and state legislatures over the past several decades, the role of American Indians in the electoral process in state legislative elections deserves greater scholarly attention. We examine changes in voting patterns among state legislative elections over a 40-year period for districts with and without casinos. In the past, Democrats held a large advantage in casino districts both in terms of the two-party vote share and in terms of incumbents running unopposed when seeking reelection. Since the 1990s, this traditional Democratic advantage has largely disappeared to a point where the two parties compete at rough parity in these districts. In several states, American Indians represent a sizeable and potentially influential voting bloc.

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The Disappearing Turnout Gap between Native Americans and Non-Native Americans

Cited by 10 publications

References 10 publications

Civic engagement and political participation among American Indians and Alaska natives in the US

Civic engagement and political participation among American Indians and Alaska natives in the US

Sovereign Bodies: Native Nations, Native American Women, and the Politics of 2018

Indian Gaming: The Declining Democratic Advantage in State Legislative Elections

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