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Official-English and the States: Influences on Declaring English the Official Language in the United States

Oberlin College

In this study, I seek to answer the question of why some states choose to declare English the official state language while others do not. Using an event history model, I show that both the proportion of a state's population that is foreign-born and whether the state allows for direct initiatives interact to influence the adoption of language laws. Specifically, states with many immigrants and no initiatives have almost no chance of declaring English the official language while a similar state with direct initiatives is more likely to do so. Implications for ethnic politics, direct democracy, and the future of language policy are discussed.

Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 2, 445-457 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/106591290105400211


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