How come Asians aren't Republican leaning, yet fit the Repub model?

[Chingylol]

Saw this article and thought it was interesting. Asians only make up 5% of the US population, yet make up almost 20% of the total students enrolled in Ivy League schools. They make almost $10,000 more then Caucasians on average, have less divorce rates, and many other factors that in theory SHOULD make them vote more Republican, but it's quite the opposite. In the end they are more liberal-leaning and are mostly democrat. How could this be?







http://www.aei.org/publication/why-a...s-republicans/

[Deleted]

Maybe because they are smarter then the average voter.

[dashflash890]

Republicans hate minorities.

[D3thray]

Obvious answer really. Republicans try to get voters to vote AGAINST their self interest through fearmongering. Asians are too smart for that.

[Deleted]

Asians are known to be pretty smart.

[GennGreymane]

Look at the states with the largest Asian communities.

[Deleted]

Obama mind control.

[NineSpine]

Higher levels of education correlate with liberalism.

[Independent voter]

All that education twisted them.

[nyc81991]

The only thing this really shows me is that Asians are generally better in a lot of the places that matter.

[SpcGuts]

Racial stereotypes aside...

"Asian Values" - Society > Family > Individual

Republican Values - Individual > Family > Society

[Screwtape]

First off, that data is not particularly conclusive or even necessarily meaningful in my opinion. Democrat and Republican are identifications, not characteristics, so saying you are Democrat or Republican doesn't necessarily mean you believe certain things. Both parties are "big tent" (although the Democratic is getting more and more ideologically homogeneous) and encompass a spectrum. There used to be "blue dog" Democrats, although they are all but extinct, as well as progressive Democrats. There are "West Coast" Republicans as well as conservatives. As for the terms "liberal" and "conservative", these are mindsets that are often conflated with issue positions. Just because someone fits an issue profile does not mean that they possess that mind set. The position may not be salient in their community and they may go along with it despite not feeling strongly.

To answer your question directly, there are several possible explanations. One is that recent immigrants are typically not politically active. They are unfamiliar to the political context so it makes them uninterested political participants. As noted, many Asians "look" like Republicans (whether or not this would translate to Republican votes is another story), but they simply are not active in politics. The second half to this story is their children. Usually the strongest factor in a person's political mindset is their parents, but as we said, immigrants are not politically active. Second and third generation children, therefore, do not receive cues from their parents and instead absorb them from the mainstream culture. The vast majority of media, especially entertainment, is dominated by liberals. Not hard to see where they get their opinions from.

A second reason could be structural. Many Asians lived in urban areas, even if they may be filtering out now, like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Houston. The Democratic Party has historically had a stronger county based political structure, especially in urban settings. The Republican Party is stronger in suburban areas. I know in Houston I have witnessed several Asian political candidates with strong community ties. The strong political structure of the Democratic Party fit well with the already strong Asian community. Did I think that these candidates were particularly ideological? Not really.

The final considerations are a bit more philosophical: The crux of many Republican positions is that there should be limits on government powers and that sometimes rights trumps strict utility. The Democratic position is often that these are non-factors and that we should do whatever seems expedient at any particular moment. One requires a knowledge of context, history and political philosophy (even if only a rudimentary kind). The other does not. When you consider that these Asian youths are only receiving political direction from the likes of Jon Daly and that virtually no other political party in the world (besides the Tories and LibDems) makes these considerations, it's easy to see why the Republican position might seem incomprehensible to the uninitiated.

As a final note, I hope you found my post interesting enough to embarrass the likes of several other posters in this thread. You'll find that being able to dispassionately examine politics is an invaluable trait, and discovering the truth is much more comforting than simply labeling your ideological enemies evil.

[Masark]

Commence the republican hatefest in 3, 2, 1...

OT: It might have something to do with being fiscally conservative, but socially liberal.
One side is one, the other side another.
What do you choose?

Simple, you choose the Democrats.

Republicans aren't "fiscally conservative", they're "fiscally pants-on-head", as demonstrated by what they're done to Kansas.

[Screwtape]

Higher levels of education correlate with liberalism.

To some extent, but generally the "bourgeois" professions are more Republican while the academic professions are more Democrat. Asians definitely fall in the bourgeois camp for now.

Racial stereotypes aside...

"Asian Values" - Society > Family > Individual

Republican Values - Individual > Family > Society

Hmm, I found this an interesting paradigm. I don't usually like the fiscal/social divide, but that might be somewhat useful here. On the social side, Republicans are definitely more family oriented. Perhaps you could say that the strong local Democratic structures give them the appearance of being more communal. Democrats, however, are more ideological and their social policies are definitely more individualistic.

I would say that both Democrats and Republicans are individualistic to the extent that they are both Modern. Liberalism (Republicans) and Progressivism (Democrats) are both Modern strains. Republicans, however, have non-Modern influences via religion and a dash of conservatism (if it could be considered an ideology) and the Democrats do not.

[Underverse]

White wealth is more often through inheritance and playing the economy, I think. Asian culture is centered more around low-risk, high paying jobs that require a lot of work - doctor, lawyer, scientist, etc.

[NineSpine]

First off, that data is not particularly conclusive or even necessarily meaningful in my opinion. Democrat and Republican are identifications, not characteristics, so saying you are Democrat or Republican doesn't necessarily mean you believe certain things. Both parties are "big tent" (although the Democratic is getting more and more ideologically homogeneous) and encompass a spectrum. There used to be "blue dog" Democrats, although they are all but extinct, as well as progressive Democrats. There are "West Coast" Republicans as well as conservatives. As for the terms "liberal" and "conservative", these are mindsets that are often conflated with issue positions. Just because someone fits an issue profile does not mean that they possess that mind set. The position may not be salient in their community and they may go along with it despite not feeling strongly.

To answer your question directly, there are several possible explanations. One is that recent immigrants are typically not politically active. They are unfamiliar to the political context so it makes them uninterested political participants. As noted, many Asians "look" like Republicans (whether or not this would translate to Republican votes is another story), but they simply are not active in politics. The second half to this story is their children. Usually the strongest factor in a person's political mindset is their parents, but as we said, immigrants are not politically active. Second and third generation children, therefore, do not receive cues from their parents and instead absorb them from the mainstream culture. The vast majority of media, especially entertainment, is dominated by liberals. Not hard to see where they get their opinions from.

A second reason could be structural. Many Asians lived in urban areas, even if they may be filtering out now, like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Houston. The Democratic Party has historically had a stronger county based political structure, especially in urban settings. The Republican Party is stronger in suburban areas. I know in Houston I have witnessed several Asian political candidates with strong community ties. The strong political structure of the Democratic Party fit well with the already strong Asian community. Did I think that these candidates were particularly ideological? Not really.

The final considerations are a bit more philosophical: The crux of many Republican positions is that there should be limits on government powers and that sometimes rights trumps strict utility. The Democratic position is often that these are non-factors and that we should do whatever seems expedient at any particular moment. One requires a knowledge of context, history and political philosophy (even if only a rudimentary kind). The other does not. When you consider that these Asian youths are only receiving political direction from the likes of Jon Daly and that virtually no other political party in the world (besides the Tories and LibDems) makes these considerations, it's easy to see why the Republican position might seem incomprehensible to the uninitiated.

As a final note, I hope you found my post interesting enough to embarrass the likes of several other posters in this thread. You'll find that being able to dispassionately examine politics is an invaluable trait, and discovering the truth is much more comforting than simply labeling your ideological enemies evil.

Your analysis is just completely out of step with reality. Conservative Democrats dominate the senate, and the conservative New Democrat Coalition has over 50 members in the House. The Republican Party is inarguably more homogenous than the Democratic Party. You have to be completely blinded by ideology to reverse that.

Your analysis of the difference between Republicans and Democrats is a caricature at best, and portraying yourself as being some kind of high minded philosopher while providing such a base, oversimplified narrative is incredibly dishonest and condescending.

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To some extent, but generally the "bourgeois" professions are more Republican while the academic professions are more Democrat. Asians definitely fall in the bourgeois camp for now.

If by "bourgeois" you mean STEM fields, sure...

[SpcGuts]

Higher levels of education correlate with liberalism.

This is true. Asian Americans also have the highest proportion (~50%) of college graduates than any other race/ethnic group.

[Tierbook]

Simple, you choose the Democrats.

Republicans aren't "fiscally conservative", they're "fiscally pants-on-head", as demonstrated by what they're done to Kansas.

I'll take Republicans over Democrats anyday, just look at what they did to Detroit.

[antelope591]

Republicans hate minorities.

Simplest answer is the most obvious one...ever seen a tea party rally? Fact is that the extreme fringes of the Republican party alienate minorities....why would they want to be a part of that even if they agree with their fiscal policies?

[Kasierith]

1) the results are skewed in terms of the 5% vs 20% because students actively immigrate for the purpose of education. The "Asians are super smart because numbers said so thing" is nothing but perception bias.
2) the qualities that you described aren't accurate at all in describing the values that actually encompass the Republican party. The primary divide right now between the parties isn't on economics; it's on social issues. And people who are willing to leave their country and their demographic supermajority to pursue personal goals tend to lean away from conservatism.