Probing Indian-American Political Campaign Contributions By Francis C. Assisi

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A new study claims that media impressions of Asian American contributions are shaped largely by fast and loose commentary glibly put forth and then recirculated among politicians, activists, pundits, and journalists. “Beyond the many casual statements lacking hard evidence, we know little about the patterns of Asian American campaign contributions.”

Because some of the common understanding of Asian American campaign contributors is largely a myth, perpetuated by journalists and pundits, and because both parties have come to view Asian ethnic communities as rich sources of financial support, still largely untapped, it’s no wonder that the impact of Indian-Americans on Asian-American and mainstream American politics is beginning to be subjected to rigorous academic enquiry.

Thus, political scientists note that, compared to other Asian Americans, Indian Americans are “most ideally poised to enter the political arena given their high socio demographic levels and English proficiency.” In addition they are already signaling “a strong presence with the large number of viable candidates, and their campaign donations have no plateau in sight.” The prediction is that “one should not be surprised to see a more noticeable presence of Indian-Americans on the political scene in the next few decades.”

But, are there obvious partisan or ethnic patterns in Indian American election campaign contributions?

In other words, to whose campaigns are they contributing money? Why do they contribute? Do they contribute money to influence politicians? Are they successful in pushing their favorite policy issues? Or, are they more interested in contributing to Indian American or even Asian American candidates as, perhaps, a gesture of ethnic pride or solidarity?

These are some of the questions for which scholars of political science seek answers.

Although it is cumbersome to rake through campaign contribution records that document contributors and contributions, political observers say the task may help in establishing an understanding of Indian American political participation.

That’s why Wendy K. Tam Cho and Suneet Lad of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have studied Indian American campaign contributions in their paper entitled 'Subcontinental Divide, Asian Indians and Asian American Politics'. The authors note that although Asian Indians have all the makings of a coveted electoral group (i.e., high income levels and a growing base of voters), research on the extent and character of this group’s political leanings is scant. The authors claim that although Indian Americans have given substantial sums of money, “we have few notions of their political tendencies or the preferences manifested by their donation patterns,” the authors say.

In earlier studies on Asian American campaign contribution, Wendy K. Tam Cho provided evidence for the theory of symbolic contributing, that is, a large portion of Asian American contributions can be seen as a symbolic expression of support toward one’s own ethnic group.

The authors note that political contributions from Asian Indians have risen dramatically in the past couple of decades. “In just 20 short years, contributions have burgeoned from almost nothing to approximately $8 million in a single election cycle. Even accounting for inflation cannot negate the dramatic magnitude of the increase.”

The number of contributors has also risen from just a few hundred to approximately 8,000 separate contributions. “Although we cannot make definite assessments of potential influence, the coupling of this rapid rate of increase in donations with the fact that the Asian Indian group has one of the highest median incomes of any group in the United States should not be lost on political observers.”

The study points out that the rate of growth in Indian-American campaign contributions exceed the growth rate of the population. Whereas the Indian-American population has doubled during each decennial census, the rise in contributions has far overshadowed even this phenomenal population growth.

The study concludes that, as a group, Indian Americans “display all the makings of a coveted bloc, untethered to either major party.” They go on to predict “the perfect strategy may engender the group into a partisan fold early and sustain their loyalty for generations to come” and that “the political development of the Asian Indian group is malleable.”

BASIC QUEST

Underlying the study is the question as to whether the phenomenal growth rate of Indian Americans since 1980 will hurl them into a position of political prominence. Other questions that are considered include: Do Indian Americans vote as a bloc? Or do they vote for their own ethnic candidates? Or is their socioeconomic status the key variable?

The authors claim that campaign finance records, collected by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), are an objective and promising source of data, especially in this realm in which empirical clues are rare. "A culling of these donation records allows us to uncover a portrait of Asian Indians that has not been previously revealed, " the study states.

Moreover, "These data are a rich, unmined data source that speaks to an important political act, obviously holds clues to understanding the Asian Indian group as a political entity, and allows us to compare this group’s behavior with other Asian American groups and other contributors."

The study's basic quest is to understand Indian Americans as a political group. And they seek answers to questions such as: Do they share a common vision, the essence of political unity? Or is their potential obstructed by differing political interests?

For this project, the authors created an Indian-American dictionary of 2,460 names which was matched with the FEC data to compile the list of contributors.

Overall, the Indian Americans show weaker attachment to the Democratic Party than Blacks and Latinos, but their references certainty lean in that direction, the study notes.

Although the donations data indicate that Asian Indians prefer Democrats to Republicans, there is no bias for one party or the other among Indian American a candidate, the authors say. “Neither Republican nor Democratic candidates are able to spread their wings further than the Asian Indian group for political donations. The candidates, moreover, are about evenly spread between the two major parties.”

Other conclusions:

Asian Indian candidates are successful only at courting the Asian Indian constituency. They are wholly unsuccessful (or perhaps uninterested) in tapping the support of the larger Asian American population base.

According to the study, interviews with several Asian Indian candidates clearly demonstrate that although they are certainly interested in the electorate as a whole, they do feel a special tie to people of their own ethnicity.

Whereas the Chinese, Japanese and Korean contributors are generally more favorable toward the Republican group. In contrast, the data for the Asian Indian group show that the Asian Indians appear to sit pretty squarely in the Democratic camp.

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