Homeownership: The Obstacle for Immigrants’ Political Achievement

November 18th, 2020

The American Dream

Many argue that immigrants, who are disproportionately more likely to be renters, have been left behind in the political world and in their ability to achieve the famed “American Dream”. In respect to this research, “the general belief [is that] property ownership is a central component of political citizenship and community engagement” (McCabe, 2013). Therefore, those who own homes and are more politically engaged will find it easier to accomplish the “American Dream”. In addition, the claim is made that because immigrants “are twice as likely to be renters as opposed to being homeowners” (Fernald & JCHS Staff, 2017), the statistics representing renters mirror those of immigrants. On one hand, according to Andrew B. Hall and Jesse Yoder, Professors of Political Science at Stanford University, research suggests that homeowners have a higher participation rate during local elections (Hall & Yoder, 2019). This was explained by Associate Director of Research Kim Manturuk of Duke University, who argues that, “renters benefit less from civic engagement than homeowners” (Manturuk, 2009). Thus, immigrants who are not fully assimilated into their communities feel like they benefit less from political activism, which leads them to participate less during elections. In addition, there are contrasting viewpoints on the topic of homeownership and political beliefs. Research by Kohl (2018), Saunders (1978), and Blum (1984) suggests that home owning directly influences your political beliefs and hence affects your political participation. Yet, others argue that there is no clear data that can conclusively determine a relationship between homeownership and political affiliation (Gilderbloom & Markham, 1995). In actuality, this research report will find a connection between homeowner’s higher political participation over immigrants, and how this plays a role in immigrants’ ability to achieve the “American Dream”.

Homeowners’ Political Advantage

The under participation of renters during local elections as compared to homeowners places immigrants at a disadvantageous position when it comes to being politically engaged citizens. According to a research paper published by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, the share of renters who are immigrants [...] is more than double the number of immigrants who are homeowners (Fernald et al., 2017). This study reflects the idea that any effect on renters will affect immigrants at a disproportionately higher rate. According to Hall and Yoder, who combined data from 18 million registered voters in Ohio and North Carolina, home-owning individuals participate substantially more in local elections (Hall & Yoder, 2019). Their research is supported by that of Brian McCabe, a Sociology Professor at Georgetown University who concluded that on average, homeowners are 1.62 times more likely to vote in local elections when compared to immigrants (McCabe, 2013). This idea that homeowners are more likely to vote during elections can be further supported by the claim, “that higher wealth and higher status groups tend to participate more in politics” (Bechtel et al., 2016). From this assertion, it is safe to say that homeowners fit into the “higher wealth and higher status group” when compared to a tenant. Thus, since immigrants are disproportionately tenants, and homeowners are inclined to participate more during local elections, immigrants are placed at a disadvantageous position when attempting to reach the “American Dream” and become politically active residents.

Reason for a Higher Turnout

Homeowners tend to participate more during local elections because they want to protect their investments and better their communities. Professors of Regional Planning Rohe and Stewart of the University of North Carolina researched homeowners' rationale for becoming involved in politics. They came to the conclusion that homeowners have a financial motive when they vote, since government policies directly impact the values of their homes (Rohe and Stewart, 1996). This deduction explains that immigrants have a lower voter turnout because government policies do not affect tenants nearly as much as they do homeowners. An example of this theory is given in Economist Edward Glaeser’s book, Triumph of the City (2011), which states that due to the high number of policies that have a direct effect on homes, homeowners have more to gain from political participation as compared to renters, who do not own the homes they live in, (Glaeser, 2011). However, others believe the reason for a higher voter turnout among homeowners is because of their sense of community. A study conducted by Kim Manturuk, who has been published in multiple academic journals, explains that “homeowners may be more politically active at the local level than renters are because they have a greater attachment to their communities simply by virtue of being homeowners” (Manturuk, 2009). Manturuk’s research is supported by that of Professor McCabe which states that residents who have lived in a community for a large amount of time are more likely to take part in efforts to improve their community (McCabe, 2013). From this research it is clear that higher homeowner turnout is due to homeowners protection of their financial investments (their homes) and because they feel that they are part of a community and therefore must improve it.

Homeownership and Political Beliefs

The idea that homeownership skews your political thinking to the right and therefore is the reason for a higher voter turnout between homeowners and immigrants has been proven untrue. Some researchers, like Sebastian Kohl, from the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies claim to have discovered a correlation between political party and homeownership. In a 2018 study, Kohl explains that political behavior changes when one becomes a homeowner, and this change usually moves your thinking to the right (Kohl, 2018). In addition, Professors Blum and Kingston state in their 1984 research paper that, “homeowners were more ‘traditional’ in their views than were tenants, who are more likely to vote for progressive policies” (Blum and Kingston, 1984). Yet, multiple studies have managed to disprove Kohl and Blum’s research, stating that there is no data to support the assertion that there is a relationship between homeownership and a change in political ideologies (Gilderbloom & Markham, 1995). Additionally, Norine Verberg, a Sociology Professor who has written over 20 academic papers relating to societal behaviors, investigated the effect that homeownership has on political beliefs and stated that, “homeownership was not a significant predictor of electoral conservatism and partisanship” (Verberg, 2000). Moreover, the assertion that homeownership skews political ideologies to the right is untrue, meaning that homeowners higher turnout is not due to their political position.

Conclusion

It is clear that homeowners are more politically active than immigrants and thus have more of a voice in respect to public policy. This is due to the fact that homeowners want the best for their communities and also have to protect their homes’ financial value. While some researchers have suggested that immigrants’ lower turnout is due to their political affiliation, these declarations have been proven false. A possible solution to this disparity between immigrants and homeowners is, “to ensure that they are aware of developments in their community” (Levine et al., 2018). By informing those who live in their community of what policies could impact them, immigrants would be more inclined to participate in local elections. Additionally, solutions provided by Hall and Yoder (2019) state that the institutions which are responsible for voting participation have to be restructured in order to pay close attention to immigrants. On top of that, more research is required to study the voting habits of immigrants and what affect their ideologies have upon their political participation (Norine, 2000). Thus, it is now up to policymakers and citizens alike, to build upon these studies and come up with their own ideas in order to ameliorate the struggle that immigrants face when attempting to achieve the “American Dream”.