Rival Models of Ethnic Politics Italian and Polish Voting Behavior in Erie, Pennsylvania

Abstract

Much of the recent scholarly attention on the political impact of ethnicity has centered around three competing paradigms - Assimilation, Ethnic Mobilization, and Coalition-building. The first of these is the Assimilationist approach enunciated by Robert Dahl. Dahl suggests that ethnic politics (voting on the basis of candidate ethnicity) is a transitional phenomenon, disappearing when the ethnic group becomes divided along socioeconomic cleavages. He presents a three stage model of political assimilation (1961: 34-35). During the first stage, members of the immigrant group share low status, little income, and negligible social-political influence. During this phase, the group has a high degree of social and political homogeneity -- they share primary associations with fellow ethnics, have common political attitudes and usually vote as a bloc.