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The article presents a discussion of the voting model for American Muslims, adapted from "Muslim and American? How Islam Shapes Political Incorporation Among American Muslims," by Matt A. Barreto and Karam Dana. It analyzes the low levels of campaign outreach and the resulting low levels of efficacy that are taken for granted in most studies of turnout. The authors think that their model could be applicable to other groups of voters including other religious and ethnic minorities.

Samuel Huntington and Bernard Lewis both argue that Islam as a religion and a culture is incompatible with liberal, democratic and American values. Not only is Islam inconsistent with the West, but it poses a direct and significant conflict according to these scholars. This viewpoint has been popularized in American and European media and by government officials who declare fundamentalist Muslims as enemies of freedom and liberalism. However, it is not clear that the grounds of conflict are based on religious ideology. Are the most devout Muslims really opposed to political incorporation in the United States, or are other traditional non-religious factors such as socioeconomic status and acculturation more important in understanding political alienation? To date, nearly every study of Islam and Western values has been qualitative, anecdotal or philosophical in nature, leaving most questions unanswered, at least empirically. To answer these questions, we fielded a public opinion survey of Muslim Americans to ask whether or not the teachings of Islam were compatible with participation in American democracy. In contrast to prevailing judgments, we find that more religiously devout Muslims are significantly more likely to support political participation in America We argue there is nothing inconsistent with Islam and American democracy, and to the contrary, the most religiously devoted Muslims are the most likely to support American democratic and participatory values because of their knowledge of and adherence to the teachings of Islam. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue that a government enforced shift to mandatory mail voting could lead to lower levels of efficacy and perhaps lower levels of participation, despite the promise of lower costs making it easier to vote. Contrary to previous theories about the costs of voting, specifically related to absentee voting, we argue that when voters are forced to switch to vote-by-mail, as opposed to simply having it as an option, the possibility exists for a backlash against the political system. Indeed, our results suggest that many polling place voters were opposed to the transition to mail balloting and many voters raised questions about government accountability under such a system. Through multivariate regression analysis, we model political efficacy and likelihood of turnout, to determine what impact, if any, a mandatory vote-by-mail system has on the voting public. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of ethnicity upon political participation presents an interesting paradox to political scientists. No consensus exists on the extent to which the interaction between contextual factors and individual level characteristics allow individuals to overcome barriers to participation, or how this relates to patterns of mobilization. While it is well documented that contacts and mobilization are effective in turning out the vote, few scholars have asked the question of who gets mobilized, and why? In this paper, we use a modified model of the effects of group size and group empowerment for Latinos in the United States to predict which Latinos reported being mobilized prior to the 2000 Presidential election. The modifications include a departure from an emphasis on the presence of Black or Latino mayors as a measurement of empowerment. Instead, we propose using a multiple-level Latino representation model of empowerment. Using a five state survey of registered Latino voters collected after the 2000 elections, we test this alternative model of empowerment to determine if Latino registered voters, living in districts with Latino representatives, are more likely to be contacted and asked to vote. Further modifications include making a distinction between type of contact and the addition of other characteristics that have been found to significantly impact Latino participation. The strategic nature of party contacting leads organizations to contact those individuals who are already the individuals most predisposed to participate. Probit regression analysis finds that Latinos represented by co-ethnics are more likely to be mobilized than Latinos represented by White or Black elected officials, providing additional support for the notion that descriptive representation empowers minority communities. However, the relationship is not linear. Latinos with only one Latino representative are the most likely to receive mobilization while those with two or three representatives are less likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the linkage between religion, or church, and political participation in a way to address the question of low levels of political participation among Latinos. We specifically focus on three distinct but complementary roles the church may play-as an incubator for civic skills, as an agent for mobilization, and as an information provider-in stimulating Latinos to take part in politics. Church-based mobilization goes directly to the heart of our answer to the question of Latino political inactivity. To the extent Latino participation depends on mobilization, whether or not church leaders have asked parishioners to get involved in politics is expected to have an immediate consequence. Drawing on data from a recent national survey of 2,060 Latino adults, we show that church-based skills and church-based mobilization are directly responsible for Latino political participation, while the effects of other typical religious factors are largely muted. Having ascertained the relative importance of different religious factors in accounting for political participation, we confirm that Latino churches serve as a vehicle of political participation. We maintain, however, that Latino churches have not fully capitalized on their potential to play a greater role in boosting rates of Latino participation, which in part explains a relative political inactivity among Latinos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]