Ethnic affinities and political engagement: an experimental study of Chinese-Canadian candidates and voters

This article examines the affinity attitudes of Chinese-Canadian voters using a conjoint experimental design. We ask the following question: do Chinese individuals express more interest and feel more represented by Chinese candidates compared to non-Chinese individuals? And are such effects mediated by personal demographics and attitudinal factors? We know little about affinity attitudes among Chinese Canadians, but evidence indicates that they tend to be less politically engaged. We thus situate our research within the theoretical debate about the affinity model of political engagement: the idea that members of a minority group become more political engaged when they see “one of their own” running for office. Our findings reveal the presence of Chinese voter-candidate affinity but also of significant heterogeneity among Chinese respondents. The importance of ethnic identity and personal experience and perceptions of discrimination increased voter-candidate affinity. A significant gender gap also emerged. These results are the first step in a deeper examination of social diversity and affinity effects for Chinese and other racialized groups in ethnically diverse contexts.