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

Abstract

ABSTRACTWithin 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 Natives (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 socioeconomic 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 who will represent their tribal interests in national politics.