Activism in Their Own Interest

Abstract

In some cases, the right to vote is initiated by the home country government, in an instance of transnationalism from above. In others, external citizens’ right to vote is won by their own grassroots activism, or transnationalism from below. More often, the two are intertwined. As discussed in the previous chapter, the right to vote and the exercise of that vote is one key aspect of American political transnationalism. However, that right is itself the product of intense grassroots lobbying — or activism — in the 1970s, or transnationalism from below. Indeed, overseas Americans have been politically active on their own behalf since at least the early 1960s, lobbying to liberalize citizenship transmission for children born to overseas Americans as well as seeking the right to vote in the US. Even after the franchise was extended in 1976, lobbying on voting continued, as it did on citizenship and other issues. Winning the right to vote and achieving facilitated transmission of citizenship remain the two key victories of overseas American lobbying, although other gains have also been made. In activism, overseas Americans are engaging in a classic form of migrant transnationalism from below, namely lobbying their home country in their own interest.