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Does the ' ethnic vote ' exist ? If it does , will it have any political clout in the 2 March elections ?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Economou, Nick M. |
| Copyright Year | 1998 |
| Abstract | The importance of the "ethnic vote" and the legitimacy of claims by community leaders that they can influence a significant constituent block is worth investigating in light of the imminent federal election. The problems associated with trying to understand the nature, scope and influence of "ethnic" voting begin with attempting to construct an adequate definition of that which constitutes an "ethnic" voter. The indicators of ethnicity used for this paper include the rate at which persons living in Australian federal electorates are born in overseas countries other than Britain, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand, and the rate at which people speak a language other than English (LOTE) at home. These indicators are not exhaustive criteria of ethnicity; apart from the English-speaking "ethnic" groups that are excluded, this approach does not fully address the question of how people born in Australia of non-English speaking background parents are to be considered, for in some communities a strong sense of ethnic identity persists in the Australian born generations. On the other hand, taking an approach that places stress on the question of language is an extremely useful guide, for the issue of language has long been one of the major themes underpinning Australian multiculturalism. In this sense, it is precisely those who perceive themselves to be somewhat apart from the English-dominant norm in Australian society that analysts and politicians are particularly interested in, because this appears to be one of the key dividing points between "ethnic" and "Anglo-Celtic" Australia. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/doc/economou_1.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
