Since 1965, bilingual education (BE) policy trajectories in California and Texas are counterintui... more Since 1965, bilingual education (BE) policy trajectories in California and Texas are counterintuitive considering the states’ partisan histories. After policy expansion from 1965-1975, both states experienced policy rollback from ~1978 through ~2010. However, rollback differed. In Texas, rollback was incremental: incrementally from the late 1970s through the 1990s, plateauing in the 2000s. In California, rollback was more volatile: incrementally from the late 1970s until Proposition 227 eliminates BE in 1998; In 2016, Proposition 58 reinstates BE. Partisan shifts-explanations are unsatisfactory. This paper argues BE policy trajectories since the 1960s manifest from racial political development (RPD), subnational policymaking mechanisms, and their effects on the political opportunity structures (POS) BE actors face. RPD refers to the statutory, legal, constitutional, and bureaucratic changes from political contestation over African Americans’ place in the American polity. Mid 20th century RPD provided new POS for BE political development – facilitating BE’s renaissance through the 1970s and its rollback thereafter. Subnational policymaking mechanisms further determined POS, providing varied forums for political development. As subnational systems vary, these forums provide disparate effects on policy outcomes – BE debates manifest differently in the separate forums. Subsequently, BE provides a window into the role of race and federalism in immigrant political incorporation.
Since the 1980s, policy trends in US bilingual education (at the national and state level) indica... more Since the 1980s, policy trends in US bilingual education (at the national and state level) indicate policy rollback. This is despite a long period of political incorporation of the main beneficiary of these policies, immigrants of Mexican descent. By contrast, policy trends in Islamic religious instruction in Germany indicate modest expansionary trends despite comparatively less political incorporation of and a shorter immigration history for its main beneficiaries, immigrants of Turkish descent. This belies the literature in political science that argues that entrenched groups are well positioned to secure/defend favorable policy outcomes in issue areas of interest. Through a comparative study of national and sub-national variation in policy trajectories in Germany and the US, this study will argue that Turkish interests have been better positioned in Germany to attain their policy interests in religious instruction, situated in a setting characterized by corporatist interest intermediation and historic elite support for religious instruction as a means of integration. This contrasts with their Mexican counterparts in the US, whose prospects (historically) of attaining their desired outcomes in bilingual education policy have been less favorable. Mexican interests operate within v and Phyllis, for the emotional and financial support during my studies. When I moved to Germany, I soon found myself in a dilemma: the amount I needed to work to support myself was too much for me to properly focus on the dissertation. During the last couple years when I cut back on my working hours, they stepped in and often made up the financial difference. This allowed me to put more focus on the dissertation, which was crucial to its completion. Additionally, the supportive emails and expressions of support (especially during the last year) were greatly appreciated and helped relieve the emotional burden that became an integral part of the dissertation process in the latter stages. Along the same lines, I would like to thank my sister, Kesi, for her surprise calls to check in on me when she knew I was stressed. I am not one to reach out, so I very much appreciated her efforts. They really helped. And I also like to thank my two brothers, Jason and Brett, for their similar emails of support or just random chatter about anything other than the dissertation. This was also needed and greatly appreciated. Ich möchte auch meiner deutschen Familie und der Gemeinschaft in Stockstadt, Biebesheim, Buettelborn und Gernsheim danken. Vom ersten Tag an haben Udo, Erika, Marc, Alfred und Gretl, Pumba, Ariela, Falko und Juergen mich in ihrer Familie aufgenommen. Nicht nur ihre Zeit, Liebe und Aufmerksamkeit haben sie mir geschenkt, sondern mich auch gleich als Beguenstigter in den Kouba Hilfsfond fuer Notleidende Studenten aufgenommen. Ohne ihre Unterstützung wäre Deutschland in den letzten Jahren nie meine Heimat geworden. Das Geschenk vi einer neuen Familie hat mich tief berührt und gluecklich gemacht. Dafür werde ich euch fuer immer dankbar sein. I would also like to thank my many awesome friends. The good times, the random banter, camaraderie, the love, the shoulders to manly cry on, I am grateful for it all and a better person for it. Big shout outs to Bivs, Rocker, Tenley, G.Hale,
In “Why Islam is Like Spanish: Cultural Incorporation in Europe and the United States,” Aristide ... more In “Why Islam is Like Spanish: Cultural Incorporation in Europe and the United States,” Aristide Zolberg and Long Litt Woon (1999) argue that Islam and Spanish pose cultural threats to the privileged positions of Christianity and English in Western European states and the US, respectively. This rests on the notion that Western European states are culturally rooted in Christianity and the US in English (Woon and Zolberg, 1999). The increased presence of immigrant populations with different languages and/ or religions, concentrated in particular localities, threatens established understandings of cultural identities (Zolberg and Woon, 1999). Issue areas concerning the incorporation of Islam and Spanish, subsequently become areas of political contestation. This study serves as a test case for Zolberg and Woon’s (1999) theory, treating Islamic religious instruction in Germany and US bilingual education as representative issue areas in the respective national debates over cultural identity and as comparable issue areas of political incorporation for their respective nations.
When policy trajectories in German Islamic religious instruction and US bilingual education are looked at historically, clear national trends are evident. However, these trends contradict dominant theories in political science concerning the benefits of a longer immigration history, political incorporation and political entrenchment for immigrant political efficacy. This is the central puzzle of the study:
Since the 1980s, policy trends in US bilingual education (at the national and state level) indicate policy rollback. This is despite a long period of political incorporation of the main beneficiary of these policies, immigrants of Mexican descent. By contrast, policy trends in Islamic religious instruction in Germany indicate modest expansionary trends despite comparatively less political incorporation of and a shorter immigration history for its main beneficiaries, immigrants of Turkish descent. This belies the literature in political science that argues that entrenched groups are well positioned to secure/defend favorable policy outcomes in issue areas of interest.
Through a comparative study of national and sub-national variation in policy trajectories in Germany and the US, this study will argue that Turkish interests have been better positioned in Germany to attain their policy interests in religious instruction, situated in a setting characterized by corporatist interest intermediation and historic elite support for religious instruction as a means of integration. This contrasts with their Mexican counterparts in the US, whose prospects (historically) of attaining their desired outcomes in bilingual education policy have been less favorable. Mexican interests operate within the laissez faire, competitive, political marketplace of American pluralism where bilingual education has been a historically polarizing issue among elites. Through close rendering of primary and secondary sources, this study builds and compares national and subnational policy narratives— in two American states, California and Texas, and in three German states (Bundeslaender), North Rhein Westphalia, Bavaria, and Berlin— in the issues areas of focus spanning from 1965 through 2010.
Since 1965, bilingual education (BE) policy trajectories in California and Texas are counterintui... more Since 1965, bilingual education (BE) policy trajectories in California and Texas are counterintuitive considering the states’ partisan histories. After policy expansion from 1965-1975, both states experienced policy rollback from ~1978 through ~2010. However, rollback differed. In Texas, rollback was incremental: incrementally from the late 1970s through the 1990s, plateauing in the 2000s. In California, rollback was more volatile: incrementally from the late 1970s until Proposition 227 eliminates BE in 1998; In 2016, Proposition 58 reinstates BE. Partisan shifts-explanations are unsatisfactory. This paper argues BE policy trajectories since the 1960s manifest from racial political development (RPD), subnational policymaking mechanisms, and their effects on the political opportunity structures (POS) BE actors face. RPD refers to the statutory, legal, constitutional, and bureaucratic changes from political contestation over African Americans’ place in the American polity. Mid 20th century RPD provided new POS for BE political development – facilitating BE’s renaissance through the 1970s and its rollback thereafter. Subnational policymaking mechanisms further determined POS, providing varied forums for political development. As subnational systems vary, these forums provide disparate effects on policy outcomes – BE debates manifest differently in the separate forums. Subsequently, BE provides a window into the role of race and federalism in immigrant political incorporation.
Since the 1980s, policy trends in US bilingual education (at the national and state level) indica... more Since the 1980s, policy trends in US bilingual education (at the national and state level) indicate policy rollback. This is despite a long period of political incorporation of the main beneficiary of these policies, immigrants of Mexican descent. By contrast, policy trends in Islamic religious instruction in Germany indicate modest expansionary trends despite comparatively less political incorporation of and a shorter immigration history for its main beneficiaries, immigrants of Turkish descent. This belies the literature in political science that argues that entrenched groups are well positioned to secure/defend favorable policy outcomes in issue areas of interest. Through a comparative study of national and sub-national variation in policy trajectories in Germany and the US, this study will argue that Turkish interests have been better positioned in Germany to attain their policy interests in religious instruction, situated in a setting characterized by corporatist interest intermediation and historic elite support for religious instruction as a means of integration. This contrasts with their Mexican counterparts in the US, whose prospects (historically) of attaining their desired outcomes in bilingual education policy have been less favorable. Mexican interests operate within v and Phyllis, for the emotional and financial support during my studies. When I moved to Germany, I soon found myself in a dilemma: the amount I needed to work to support myself was too much for me to properly focus on the dissertation. During the last couple years when I cut back on my working hours, they stepped in and often made up the financial difference. This allowed me to put more focus on the dissertation, which was crucial to its completion. Additionally, the supportive emails and expressions of support (especially during the last year) were greatly appreciated and helped relieve the emotional burden that became an integral part of the dissertation process in the latter stages. Along the same lines, I would like to thank my sister, Kesi, for her surprise calls to check in on me when she knew I was stressed. I am not one to reach out, so I very much appreciated her efforts. They really helped. And I also like to thank my two brothers, Jason and Brett, for their similar emails of support or just random chatter about anything other than the dissertation. This was also needed and greatly appreciated. Ich möchte auch meiner deutschen Familie und der Gemeinschaft in Stockstadt, Biebesheim, Buettelborn und Gernsheim danken. Vom ersten Tag an haben Udo, Erika, Marc, Alfred und Gretl, Pumba, Ariela, Falko und Juergen mich in ihrer Familie aufgenommen. Nicht nur ihre Zeit, Liebe und Aufmerksamkeit haben sie mir geschenkt, sondern mich auch gleich als Beguenstigter in den Kouba Hilfsfond fuer Notleidende Studenten aufgenommen. Ohne ihre Unterstützung wäre Deutschland in den letzten Jahren nie meine Heimat geworden. Das Geschenk vi einer neuen Familie hat mich tief berührt und gluecklich gemacht. Dafür werde ich euch fuer immer dankbar sein. I would also like to thank my many awesome friends. The good times, the random banter, camaraderie, the love, the shoulders to manly cry on, I am grateful for it all and a better person for it. Big shout outs to Bivs, Rocker, Tenley, G.Hale,
In “Why Islam is Like Spanish: Cultural Incorporation in Europe and the United States,” Aristide ... more In “Why Islam is Like Spanish: Cultural Incorporation in Europe and the United States,” Aristide Zolberg and Long Litt Woon (1999) argue that Islam and Spanish pose cultural threats to the privileged positions of Christianity and English in Western European states and the US, respectively. This rests on the notion that Western European states are culturally rooted in Christianity and the US in English (Woon and Zolberg, 1999). The increased presence of immigrant populations with different languages and/ or religions, concentrated in particular localities, threatens established understandings of cultural identities (Zolberg and Woon, 1999). Issue areas concerning the incorporation of Islam and Spanish, subsequently become areas of political contestation. This study serves as a test case for Zolberg and Woon’s (1999) theory, treating Islamic religious instruction in Germany and US bilingual education as representative issue areas in the respective national debates over cultural identity and as comparable issue areas of political incorporation for their respective nations.
When policy trajectories in German Islamic religious instruction and US bilingual education are looked at historically, clear national trends are evident. However, these trends contradict dominant theories in political science concerning the benefits of a longer immigration history, political incorporation and political entrenchment for immigrant political efficacy. This is the central puzzle of the study:
Since the 1980s, policy trends in US bilingual education (at the national and state level) indicate policy rollback. This is despite a long period of political incorporation of the main beneficiary of these policies, immigrants of Mexican descent. By contrast, policy trends in Islamic religious instruction in Germany indicate modest expansionary trends despite comparatively less political incorporation of and a shorter immigration history for its main beneficiaries, immigrants of Turkish descent. This belies the literature in political science that argues that entrenched groups are well positioned to secure/defend favorable policy outcomes in issue areas of interest.
Through a comparative study of national and sub-national variation in policy trajectories in Germany and the US, this study will argue that Turkish interests have been better positioned in Germany to attain their policy interests in religious instruction, situated in a setting characterized by corporatist interest intermediation and historic elite support for religious instruction as a means of integration. This contrasts with their Mexican counterparts in the US, whose prospects (historically) of attaining their desired outcomes in bilingual education policy have been less favorable. Mexican interests operate within the laissez faire, competitive, political marketplace of American pluralism where bilingual education has been a historically polarizing issue among elites. Through close rendering of primary and secondary sources, this study builds and compares national and subnational policy narratives— in two American states, California and Texas, and in three German states (Bundeslaender), North Rhein Westphalia, Bavaria, and Berlin— in the issues areas of focus spanning from 1965 through 2010.
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Papers by Girma Parris
When policy trajectories in German Islamic religious instruction and US bilingual education are looked at historically, clear national trends are evident. However, these trends contradict dominant theories in political science concerning the benefits of a longer immigration history, political incorporation and political entrenchment for immigrant political efficacy. This is the central puzzle of the study:
Since the 1980s, policy trends in US bilingual education (at the national and state level) indicate policy rollback. This is despite a long period of political incorporation of the main beneficiary of these policies, immigrants of Mexican descent. By contrast, policy trends in Islamic religious instruction in Germany indicate modest expansionary trends despite comparatively less political incorporation of and a shorter immigration history for its main beneficiaries, immigrants of Turkish descent. This belies the literature in political science that argues that entrenched groups are well positioned to secure/defend favorable policy outcomes in issue areas of interest.
Through a comparative study of national and sub-national variation in policy trajectories in Germany and the US, this study will argue that Turkish interests have been better positioned in Germany to attain their policy interests in religious instruction, situated in a setting characterized by corporatist interest intermediation and historic elite support for religious instruction as a means of integration. This contrasts with their Mexican counterparts in the US, whose prospects (historically) of attaining their desired outcomes in bilingual education policy have been less favorable. Mexican interests operate within the laissez faire, competitive, political marketplace of American pluralism where bilingual education has been a historically polarizing issue among elites. Through close rendering of primary and secondary sources, this study builds and compares national and subnational policy narratives— in two American states, California and Texas, and in three German states (Bundeslaender), North Rhein Westphalia, Bavaria, and Berlin— in the issues areas of focus spanning from 1965 through 2010.
When policy trajectories in German Islamic religious instruction and US bilingual education are looked at historically, clear national trends are evident. However, these trends contradict dominant theories in political science concerning the benefits of a longer immigration history, political incorporation and political entrenchment for immigrant political efficacy. This is the central puzzle of the study:
Since the 1980s, policy trends in US bilingual education (at the national and state level) indicate policy rollback. This is despite a long period of political incorporation of the main beneficiary of these policies, immigrants of Mexican descent. By contrast, policy trends in Islamic religious instruction in Germany indicate modest expansionary trends despite comparatively less political incorporation of and a shorter immigration history for its main beneficiaries, immigrants of Turkish descent. This belies the literature in political science that argues that entrenched groups are well positioned to secure/defend favorable policy outcomes in issue areas of interest.
Through a comparative study of national and sub-national variation in policy trajectories in Germany and the US, this study will argue that Turkish interests have been better positioned in Germany to attain their policy interests in religious instruction, situated in a setting characterized by corporatist interest intermediation and historic elite support for religious instruction as a means of integration. This contrasts with their Mexican counterparts in the US, whose prospects (historically) of attaining their desired outcomes in bilingual education policy have been less favorable. Mexican interests operate within the laissez faire, competitive, political marketplace of American pluralism where bilingual education has been a historically polarizing issue among elites. Through close rendering of primary and secondary sources, this study builds and compares national and subnational policy narratives— in two American states, California and Texas, and in three German states (Bundeslaender), North Rhein Westphalia, Bavaria, and Berlin— in the issues areas of focus spanning from 1965 through 2010.