Research on cross-nativity partnering – relationships between immigrants and non-immigrants – has mainly focused on socioeconomic determinants and outcomes of these unions, and their sociopolitical consequences remain underexplored. Extrapolating existing research reveals how cross-nativity relationships may serve as conduits of resources, knowledge, and connections that facilitate political participation; as spaces of political resocialization, bringing together partners with different experiences and understandings of citizenship; and, alternatively, as a selection mechanism whereby immigrant integration results in cross-nativity relationships among those more likely to participate in politics. Using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and linking information about married and cohabiting couples, this study assesses whether cross-nativity partnering is associated with voting. Logistic regression models predicting voting using respondents’ and their partners’ immigrant generation indicate two broad findings. First, having a second or third+ generation partner is positively associated with voting, consistent with theoretical expectations that US-born partners provide resources or signal selection. Second, and more surprisingly, there is small but significant variation in voting among the third+ generation based on their partner’s immigrant generation. This indicates inadequacies in theorizing US-born partners solely as providers, and is more consistent with political resocialization. Importantly, this finding challenges theoretical and empirical assumptions in immigration research about the third+ generation as a static baseline. Overall, this study contributes to expanding scholarly focus beyond the individual to the role of relationships, in particular of spouses and cohabiting partners, in integrating immigrants into political life, and, more broadly, in shaping and contextualizing interactions between the state and its citizens and subjects.
In Search of the Expressive Citizen