Course Description

  This course will examine the relationship between Asian Americans and the political process in the contemporary United States.  It will examine how Asian Americans participate in local, state and national politics, and how their lives are shaped by the political dynamics in turn.  

  The course is organized from a political science perspective.  Specifically, it moves from an examination of the formal governmental process (electoral, legislative and judicial politics) to the study of non-governmental political actors (social movements, media, and to some extent, women).  Because the scholarly research on Asian American politics is still being developed, however, the readings come not only from political science but also from sociology, legal studies, and interdisciplinary research in Asian American Studies.  The readings also include several pieces on Latino and African American politics so that we will have a chance to analyze Asian American politics from a comparative ethnic perspective.  Finally, in order to put our understanding of the Asian American experience in broader context, we will take one week to discuss cross-national comparisons and international linkages toward the end of the course.

  Although "policy" issues such as immigration policy and the "English-only" movement will be considered, the emphasis of this course will be on the examination of the political process itself.  This is not meant to discourage your interest in policy issues, but to remind you that a good understanding of policy issues will come only with a good understanding of the political process that shapes them.  Thus, this course will focus on such questions as why some social movements succeed while others fail, and why a policy issue becomes an "issue" at all.

  The readings are chosen so that you will be fully exposed to the diversity and richness of Asian American politics.  I have tried to include as many interesting cases as possible, and avoid overly abstract and mathematical readings.  Thus, I believe that the reading assignments will not be as time-consuming as you might imagine from the number of pages assigned.

Course Requirements

  This course will be conducted in a seminar format.  In most weeks we will read several articles or book chapters rather than a single book so that we will have diverse perspectives on the topic of the week.  You will be expected to finish all the readings for the week before the class.  You are also encouraged to pay close attention to on-going political events reported in the media and relate them to the topics that will be discussed in the class.  The course requirements are: 

Attendance/participation       20%

Short review of readings         2x 10 = 20%

Critical review of readings for the week (3-4 page), due on the day when the readings are discussed.  Choose two weeks of your choice under the constraint that at least one paper has to be before the midterm and at least one paper has to be after the midterm.  I reserve the right to adjust your grade after I read all students' paper.

Take-home midterm exam      20%

A short newspaper/magazine article will be distributed one week before the due date (TBA).  Write a short (5-6 page) essay on the article, relating the article to the topics discussed in the class to that point.

Final Paper          30%

Write a 10-12 page paper on a topic of your choice (due date TBA).    As long as the topic is related to "Asian Americans in U.S. Politics," you have a variety of options.  You may deepen one of the topics covered in the seminar; you may analyze various policy options in one particular policy area; you may trace the history of a certain political phenomenon; or you may compare political activities of Asian Americans with other minorities in the U.S. or with Asians in other countries.  Alternatively, you might want to write about a topic which has not been traditionally considered political.  As long as you explain why your topic can be conceptualized as a political matter and why it is related to Asian American politics, that is also fine.

You may also use the research method(s) of your choice.  You may conduct, for example, critical literature review, analysis of newspaper and magazine articles, internet search, or interviews.  The important thing is not the choice of methods per se but its justification--why you would use certain methods to investigate your topic.

Oral presentation        10%

After the midterm, you will be asked to report to the class (about ten minutes) what you are interested in writing about for your final paper.  At this stage, you don't have to present your "results."  Rather, use this opportunity to receive helpful comments from the class and strengthen your research framework and the argument of your paper.

Course Readings 

  The following two books are ordered for purchase at House of Our Own (3920 Spruce Street).  I have also asked Rosengarten Reserve to keep these books.  The rest of the readings, which comprise the majority of the course assignments,  are included in a course packet.  This packet is available at Wharton Reprographics (Suite 400, 3620 Locust Walk). 

  Leslie Hatamiya, Righting a Wrong (Week 5, 6)
  John Horton, The Politics of Diversity (Week 9)

Class Schedule

Week 1 (September 9): Introduction: What is Asian American Politics?

Don T. Nakanishi, "When Numbers Do Not Add Up: Asian Pacific Americans and California Politics" in Michael B. Preston, Bruce E. Cain and Sandra Bass eds.: Racial and Ethnic Politics in California, Volume 2 (Berkeley, Calif.: Institute of Governmental Studies), pp. 3-43.
 

Week 2 (September 16): The Development of Asian American Politics: How It Was Born; How It Has Grown

William Wei, Asian American Movement (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993), Ch. 1 (part, pp. 11-29).

Yen Le Espiritu, Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992), Ch. 1-2 (pp. 1-52).

Peter Skerry, Mexican Americans: The Ambivalent Minority (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993), Ch. 1 (pp. 1-31).

Stephen S. Fugita and David J. O' Brien, "Economics, Ideology, and Ethnicity: The Struggle between the United Farm Workers and the Nisei Farmers League" Social Problems 25(2) (December 1977), pp. 146-56.

Video: Chicano!: Mexican American Movement
 

Week 3 (September 23):  Political Participation and Citizenship: Who Votes, and How? Who Doesn't Participate, and Why Not?

Bill Ong Hing, Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy, 1850-1990 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993), Ch. 5 (part, 153-68).

Paul Ong and Don T. Nakanishi, "Becoming Citizens, Becoming Voters: The Naturalization and Political Participation of Asian American Immigrants" in Bill Ong Hing and Ronald Lee eds., The State of Asian America: Reframing Immigration Debate (LEAP Asian American Public Policy Institute and UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1996), pp. 275-305.

Pei-te Lien, "Does Under-Participation Matter: An Examination of Policy Opinions Among Asian Americans" Asian American Policy Review 7 (Spring 1997), pp. 38-49.

Aneesh Chopra, Ajay Kuntamukkala, and Keith Reeves, "1996 Survey on the Public Policy Concerns of Indian-American Community" Asian American Policy Review 7 (Spring 1997), pp. 115-31. 

Video: Matt Fong (Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, 1998) TV Commercials
 

Week 4 (September 30): Representation and Reapportionment

Bruce E. Cain, "Voting Rights and Democratic Theory: Toward a Color-Blind Society?" and Comments by Luis R. Fraga, Lani Guinier, Carol M, Swain and James P. Turner, in Bernard Grofman and Chandler Davidson eds., Controversies in Minority Voting: The Voting Rights Act in Perspective (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1992), pp. 261-99.

Leslie Saito, "Asian Americans and Latinos in San Gabriel Valley, California: Ethnic Political Cooperation and Redistricting, 1990-92" Amerasia Journal 19(2) (1991), pp. 55-68.

James A. Regalado and Gloria Martinez, "Reapportionment and Coalition Building: A Case Study of Informal Barriers to Latino Empowerment in Los Angeles County" in Roberto E. Villarreal and Norma G. Hernandez eds., Latinos and Political Coalitions: Political Empowerment in the 1990s (New York: Praeger, 1991), pp. 125-43.

Frank J. Macchiarola and Joseph G. Diaz, "Minority Political Empowerment in New York City: Beyond the Voting Rights Act" Political Science Quarterly 108 (1) (Spring 1993), pp. 37-57.

Video: House floor debate on citizenship verification program (7/30/98)
 

Week 5 (October 7): Social Movement and Courts: Why the Japanese Internment Reparation Movement Succeeded, While Other Movements Have Not Yet Achieved Their Goals 

Leslie Hatamiya, Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and the Passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1993), Chronology of Events, Introduction, Ch. 1, 3, and 11 (pp. ix-xxiii, 1-26, 38-56, 165-80).

Harry H. L. Kitano and Mitchell Maki, "Japanese American Redress: The Proper Alignment Model" Asian American Policy Review 7 (Spring 1997), pp. 55-72.

Vanessa B.M. Vergara, "Broken Promises and Aging Patriots: An Assessment of US Veteran Benefits for Filipino World War II Veterans" Asian American Policy Review 7 (Spring 1997), pp. 163-82.

Audrey Kobayashi, "The Japanese-Canadian Redress Settlement and Its Implications for 'Race Relations'" Canadian Ethnic Studies 24(1) (1992), pp. 1-19.

Video: Something Strong Within
 

Week 6 (October 14): Congressional Policy Making [1]: How Congress Makes Policies That Affect Asian Americans

Leslie T. Hatamiya, Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and the Passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1993), Rest of the book.

Andrew Leong, "The Asian Exclusion Act of 1996: Welfare Reform and Asian Pacific America" Asian American Policy Review 7 (Spring 1997), pp. 88-101.

Guest speaker: Grayce Uyehara
 

Week 7 (October 21): Congressional Policy Making [2]: Immigration Policy Making 

Bill Ong Hing, Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy, 1850-1990 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993), Ch. 1 (pp. 17-42).

Hudson N. Janisch, "The Chinese Exclusion Laws: Congress and the Politics of Unbridled Passion" in Hyung-Chan Kim ed. Asian Americans and Congress: A Documentary History (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996), pp. 71-111.

Lee A. Makela, "The Immigration Act of 1924" in Hyung-Chan Kim ed. Asian Americans and Congress: A Documentary History (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996), pp. 225-64.

 "White House Calls the Shots, as Illegal Alien Bill Clears" Congressional Quarterly Almanac 52 (1996, 104th Congress, 2nd Session), pp. "5-3" - "5-17."

Video: Senate Campaign Finance Investigation Hearing (Summer 1997)
 

Week 8 (October 28): Urban Politics and Race Relations

James Jennings, "Changing Urban Policy Paradigms: Impact of Black and Latino Coalitions" in James Jennings ed., Blacks, Latinos, and Asians in Urban America: Status and Prospects for Politics and Activism (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1994), pp. 3-16.

Jeannette Diaz-Veizades and Edward T. Chang, "Building Cross-Cultural Coalitions: A Case-Study of the Black-Korean Alliance and the Latino-Black Roundtable" Ethnic and Racial Studies 19(3) (July 1996), pp. 680-700.

Paul Ong, Key Young Park, and Yasmin Tong, "The Korean-Black Conflict and the State" in Paul Ong, Edna Bonacich and Lucie Cheng eds., The New Asian Immigration in Los Angeles and Global Restructuring (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), pp. 264-94.

Clarence N. Stone, "Race, Power and Political Change" in Janet K. Boles ed., The Egalitarian City: Issues of Rights, Distribution, Access and Power (New York: Praeger, 1986), pp. 200-23.
 

Week 9 (November 4): Demography and Politics: The Case of Suburban City

John Horton, The Politics of Diversity: Immigration, Resistance, and Change in Monterey Park, California (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995), Entire book.
 

Week 10 (November 11): The Role of Media and Agenda Setting 

E.E. Schattschneider, The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960), Ch. 4, 6 (pp. 60-75, 95-111).

Frank Wu and May Nicholson, "Have You No Decency? Racial Aspects of Media Coverage on the John Huang Matter" Asian American Policy Review 7 (Spring 1997), pp. 1-37.

Howard D. Neighbor and Roberto E. Villarreal, "The Role of Media in Latino Empowerment" in Roberto E. Villarreal and Norma G. Hernandez eds., Latinos and Political Coalitions: Political Empowerment in the 1990s (New York: Praeger, 1991), pp. 19-31.

Keith Umemoto, "In Defense of John Huang" Asian Week: The Voice of Asian America Nov. 29, 1996, p. 7.

Allison Mitchell, "After Hours, Debate on Fund-Raising Rages" New York Times  July 20, 1998, A1, A11.

Video: Panel on Campaign Finance Reporting in the Asian American Journalist Association conference (Boston, August 1997)
 

Week 11 (November 18): Politics in Broader Social Contexts: The Cases of Gender 

Esther Ngan-Ling Chow, "The Development of Feminist Consciousness Among Asian American Women" Gender & Society 1(3) (September 1987), pp. 284-99.

Judy Chu, "Asian Pacific American Women in Mainstream Politics" in Asian Women United of California, ed. Making Waves: An Anthology of Writings by and about Asian American Women (Boston: Beacon Press, 1989), pp. 405-21.

Purvi Shah, "Redefining the Home: How Community Elites Silence Feminist Activism" in Sonia Shah ed., Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire (Boston, Mass.: South End Press, 1997), pp. 46-56.

Carol Hardy-Fanta, Latina Politics, Latino Politics: Gender, Culture and Political Participation in Boston (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993), Introduction, Ch. 2 (pp. 1-14, 37-74).

Week 12 (November 25): Micro-level Politics: The Case of Campus Politics

William Wei, Asian American Movement (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993), Ch. 5 (pp. 132-68).

Dale Minami, "Guerrilla War at UCLA: Political and Legal Dimensions of the Tenure Battle" Amerasia Journal 16(1) (1990), pp. 81-107.

Deborah Woo, "The 'Overrepresentation' of Asian Americans: Red Herrings and Yellow Perils" Sage Race Relations Abstract 15(2) (May 1990), pp. 3-36. 

Evelyn Hu-DeHart, "P.C. and the Politics of Multiculturalism in Higher Education" in Steven Gregory and Roger Sanjek, Race (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1994), pp. 243-56.
 

Week 13 (December 2): Cross-national Comparisons 

Avtar Brah, Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities (London: Routledge, 1996), Ch. 1 (pp. 17-48).  Note: This chapter is on the social construction of the "Asian-ness" in the post-war Britain.

James S. Frideres, "Canada's Changing Immigration Policy: Implications for Asian Immigrants" Asian and Pacific Migration Journal (Manila, Philippines) 5(4) (1996), pp. 449-70.

James Jupp, "From 'White Australia' to 'Part of Asia': Recent Shifts in Australian Immigration Policy Towards the Region"  International Migration Review 29(1) (Spring 1995), pp. 207-28.

Kevin Sullivan, "Scare Crusade Pulls in Votes in Australia" Washington Post July 6, 1998, pp. A1, A14.
 

Week 14 (December 9): International Linkages/Conclusion: What Political System and Structure Do We Have in the United States?

Jin Whyu Mok and Young Soon Yim, "The Korean-American's Role Perception toward the North-South Reunification Issue" International Journal of Comparative Sociology 35(3-4) (September-December 1994), pp. 252-63.

Peter Nien-Chu Kiang, "About Face: Recognizing Asian & Pacific American Vietnam Veterans in Asian American Studies" Amerasia Journal 17(3) (1991), pp. 23-40.

Troy Johnson, Duane Champagne, and Joane Nagel, "American Indian Activism and Transformation: Lessons from Alcatraz" in Troy Johnson, Joane Nagel, and Duane Champagne eds., American Indian Activism: Alcatraz to the Longest Walk (Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1997), pp. 9-44.

Rodney Hero, "Two-Tiered Pluralism: Race and Ethnicity in American Politics" in Lawrence C. Dodd and Calvin Jillson eds., New Perspectives on American Politics (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press), pp. 47-57.