Hostname: page-component-669899f699-tpknm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-29T04:04:05.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

İSí Se Puede! Latino Candidates and the Mobilization of Latino Voters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2007

MATT A. BARRETO
MATT A. BARRETO
Affiliation:
University of Washington
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Traditional studies of political participation assume an electoral environment in which voters decide between two White candidates, and find Latino citizens less politically engaged. Given the growth in the number of Latino candidates for office over the past 20 years, this article tests whether ethnicity impacts Latino voting behavior. I argue that the presence of a Latino candidate mobilizes the Latino electorate, resulting in elevated voter turnout and strong support for the co-ethnic candidates. Although some research provides a theoretical basis for such a claim, this article brings together a comprehensive body of empirical evidence to suggest that ethnicity is salient for Latinos and provides a coherent theory that accounts for the empowering role of co-ethnic candidates. Analysis of recent mayoral elections in five major U.S. cities reveals that Latinos were consistently mobilized by co-ethnic candidates.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 101 , Issue 3 , August 2007 , pp. 425 - 441
Copyright
© 2007 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abosch Yishaiya, Matt A. Barreto, and Nathan D. Woods. 2007. “An Assessment of Racially Polarized Voting For and Against Latino Candidates in California.” In Voting Right Act Reauthorization of 2006: Perspectives on Democracy, Participation, and Power, ed. Ana Henderson. Berkeley: UC Berkeley Public Policy Press.
Barreto Matt A., Gary M. Segura, and Nathan D. Woods. 2004. “The Mobilizing Effect of Majority-Minority Districts on Latino Turnout.” The American Political Science Review 98 (February): 65– 75.Google Scholar
Barreto Matt A., Mario Villarreal, and Nathan D. Woods. 2005. “Metropolitan Latino Political Behavior: Turnout and Candidate Preference in Los Angeles.“ Journal of Urban Affairs 27 (February): 71– 91.Google Scholar
Bobo Lawrence, and Frank D. Gilliam. 1990. “Race, Sociopolitical Participation, and Black Empowerment.” American Political Science Review 84 (June): 377– 93.Google Scholar
Bowler Shaun, and Gary Segura. 2005. Diversity in Democracy: Minority Representation in the United States Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
Browning Rufus P., Dale Rogers Marshall, and David H. Tabb. 1984. Protest is Not Enough. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Brichetto Robert R., and Rodolfo de la Garza. 1985. The Mexican American Electorate: Political Opinions and Behavior Across Cultures in San Antonio Occasional Paper No. 5. San Antonio: Southwest Voter Registration Project.
Cain Bruce E., and D. Roderick Kiewiet. 1984. “Ethnicity and Electoral Choice: Mexican American Voting Behavior in the California 30th Congressional District.” Social Science Quarterly 65: 315– 27.Google Scholar
Cain Bruce E., D. Roderick Kiewiet, and Carole Uhlaner. 1991. “The Acquisition of Partisanship by Latinos and Asian Americans.” American Journal of Political Science 35 (May): 390– 422.Google Scholar
Calvo Maria A., and Steven J. Rosenstone 1989. Hispanic Political Participation. San Antonio: Southwest Voter Research Institute.
Dahl Robert. 1961. Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
DeFrancesco Soto Victoria and Jennifer Merolla. 2006. “Vota por tu Forturo: Partisan Mobilization of Latino Voters in the 2000 Presidential Election.” Political Behavior 28 (Dec): 285– 304.Google Scholar
DeSipio Louis. 1996. Counting on the Latino Vote: Latinos as a New Electorate. Charlottesville, NC: University of Virginia Press.
DeSipio Louis, and Natalie Masuoka. 2006. “Opportunities Lost? Latinos, Cruz Bustamante, and California's Recall.” In Clicker Politics, ed. Shaun Bowler and Bruce Cain. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
de la Garza Rodolfo O., Charles W. Haynes, and Jaesung Ryu 2002. “An Analysis of Latino Voter Turnout Patterns in the 1992–1998 General Elections in Harris County, Texas.” Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy 14: 77– 95.Google Scholar
de la Garza Rodolfo O., Martha Menchaca, and Louis DeSipio, eds. 1994. Barrio Ballots: Latino Politics in the 1990 Elections. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Downs Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper and Row.
Engstrom Richard L., and Robert B. Brischetto. 1997. “Cumulative Voting and Latino Representation: Exit Surveys in Fifteen Texas Communities.” Social Science Quarterly 78 (December): 973– 91.Google Scholar
Espino Rodolfo. 2007. “Is there a Latino dimension to voting in Congress?” In Latino Politics: Identity, Mobilization, and Representation, ed. Rodolfo Espino, David Leal, and Ken Meier. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.
Fleck Tim. 2001. “Runoff worries: Brown duplicates 1997 showing, but Sanchez has the momentum.” The Houston Press. November 15.
Fraga Luis R. 1988. “Domination through democratic means: Nonpartisan slating groups in city electoral politics.” Urban Affairs Quaterly 23 (4): 528– 55.Google Scholar
Fry Brian. 2001. “Anti-Immigrant Backlash: 1965 to the Present.” In Encyclopedia of American Immigration, ed. James Ciment. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Garcia John A., and Carlos H. Arce. 1988. “Political Orientations and Behaviors of Chicanos: Trying to Make Sense out of Attitudes and Participation.” In Pursuing Power: Latinos and the Political System, ed. F. Chris Garcia. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Garcia John A., F. Chris Garcia, Rodolfo de la Garza, and Angelo Falcon. 1991. “Ethnicity and National Origin Status: Patterns of Identities Among Latinos in the U.S.” Presented at Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.
Gilliam Frank D. 1996. “Exploring Minority Empowerment: Symbolic Politics, Governing Coalitions and Traces of Political Style in Los Angeles.” American Journal of Political Science 40 (February): 56– 81.Google Scholar
Gilliam,Frank D., and Karen M. Kaufmann. 1998. “Is There an Empowerment Life Cycle? Long-Term Black Empowerment and Its Influence on Voter Participation.” Urban Affairs Review 33: 6 (July): 766.Google Scholar
Goodman Leo. 1953. “Ecological regression and the behavior of individuals.” American Sociological Review 18 (6): 663– 6.Google Scholar
Graves Scott. and Jongho Lee 2000. “Ethnic Underpinnings of Voting Preference: Latinos and the 1996 U.S. Senate Election Texas.” Social Science Quarterly 81 (March): 226– 36.Google Scholar
Grofman Bernard, 1993. “Voting rights in a multi-ethnic world.” Chicano-Latino Law Review. 13 (15): 15– 37.Google Scholar
Grofman Bernard, Samuel,Merrill III. 2004 “Ecological Regression and Ecological Inference?” In Ecological Inference: New Methodological Strategies, ed. Gary King, Ori Rosen and Martin Tanner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hero Rodney. 1992. Latinos and the U.S. Political System: Two-Tiered Pluralism. Philadelphia: Temple Press.
Hero Rodney, and Susan Clarke. 2003. “Latinos, Blacks, and Multiethnic Politics in Denver: Realigning Power and Influence in the Struggle for Equality.” In Racial Politics in American Cities, ed. Rufus P. Browning, Dale Rogers Marshall, and David H. Tabb. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Hill Kevin, Dario Moreno, and Lourdes Cue. 2001. “Racial and Partisan Voting in a Tri-Ethnic City: The 1996 Dade County Mayoral Election.” Journal of Urban Affairs 23 (July): 291– 307.Google Scholar
Huntington Samuel. 2004. “The Hispanic Challenge.” Foreign Policy 141: 30– 45.Google Scholar
Jacobson Gary C. 1987. The Politics of Congressional Elections. 2nd ed. Boston: Little Brown.
Kaufmann Karen. 2003. “Black and Latino Voters in Denver: Responses to Each Other's Political Leadership.” Political Science Quarterly 118 (April): 107– 25.Google Scholar
Keiser Richard. 1990. “The Rise of a Biracial Coalition in Philadelphia.” In Racial Politics in American Cities, ed. Rufus P. Browning, Dale Rogers Marshall, and David H. Tabb. White Plains, NY: Longman.
King Gary. 1997. A Solution to the Ecological Inference Problem: Reconstructing Individual Behavior from Aggregate Data. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Leighley Jan E. 2001. Strength in Numbers? The Political Mobilization of Racial and Ethnic Minorities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Lemus Frank. 1973. National Roster of Spanish Surnamed Elected Officials. Los Angeles: Aztlan Publications.
Lester Will. 2001. “The Dynamic of Ethnic Loyalty.” The Associated Press. Reprinted in The Puerto Rico Herald. December 7.
Manzano Sylvia, and Arturo Vega. 2006. “I Don't See Color, I Vote For the Best Candidate: The Persistence of Ethnic Polarized Voting.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association.
Masuoka Natalie. 2006. “Together They Become One: Examining the Predictors of Panethnic Group Consciousness Among Asian Americans and Latinos.” Social Science Quarterly 87 (5).Google Scholar
Miller Arthur, Patricia Gurin, Gerald Gurin, and Oksana Malanchuk. 1981. “Group Consciousness and Political Participation.” American Journal of Political Science 25 (August): 494– 511.Google Scholar
Muñoz Carlos, and Charles P. Henry. 1986. “Rainbow Coalitions in Four Big Cities: San Antonio, Denver, Chicago, and Philadelphia.” PS: Political Science and Politics 19 (Summer): 598– 609.Google Scholar
Nelson Brent A. 1994. America Balkanized: Immigration's Challenge to Government. Monterey, VA: American Immigration Control Foundation.
Nuño Stephen. 2007. “Latino Mobilization and Vote Choice in the 2000 Presidential Election.” American Politics Research 35 (March).Google Scholar
Pachon Harry. 1998. “Latino Politics in the Golden State: Ready for the 21st Century?” In Racial and Ethnic Politics in California, ed. Byran O. Jackson and Michael B. Preston. Berkeley: Institute for Governmental Studies, University of California.
Pachon Harry. 1999. “California Latino Politics and the 1996 Elections: From Potential to Reality.” In Awash in the Mainstream, ed. Rodolfo O. de la Garza and Louis DeSipio. Boulder; CO: Westview Press.
Pachon Harry, and Louis DeSipio. 1992. “Latino Elected Officials in the 1990s.” PS: Political Science & Politics. 25 (June): 212– 17.Google Scholar
Pantoja Adrian D., Stephen P. Nicholson, and Gary M. Segura. 2006. “Political Knowledge and Issue Voting Among the Latino Electorate.” Political Research Quarterly 59 (June).Google Scholar
Pantoja Adrian D., Ricardo Ramírez, and Gary M. Segura. 2001. “Citizens by Choice, Voters by Necessity: Patterns in Political Mobilization by Naturalized Latinos.” Political Research Quarterly 54 (December): 729– 50.Google Scholar
Pantoja Adrian D., and Nathan D. Woods. 1999. “Turning Out the Latino Vote in Los Angeles County: Did Interest Group Efforts Matter?” American Review of Politics 20: 141– 62.Google Scholar
Pew Hispanic Center. 2004. 2004 National Survey of Latinos. Washington, DC.
Pinderhughes Dianne. 1987. Race and Ethnicity in Chicago Politics: A Re-examination of Pluralist Theory. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Popkin Samuel. 1991. The Reasoning Voter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ramírez Ricardo. 2005. “Giving Voice to Latino Voters: A Field Experiment on the Effectiveness of a National Non-Partisan Mobilization Effort.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 601: 66– 84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramírez Ricardo. 2007. “Segmented Mobilization: Latino Non-Partisan Get Out The Vote Efforts in the 2000 General Election.” American Politics Research 35 (March).Google Scholar
Reeves Keith, 1990. Voting Hopes or Fears? NY: Oxford Univ. Press.
Robinson W.S. 1950. “Ecological Correlations and Individual Behavior.” American Sociological Review 15 (June): 351– 57.Google Scholar
Sanchez Gabriel. 2006. “The Role of Group Consciousness In Political Participation Among Latinos In The United States,” American Politics Research 34 (July): 427– 50.Google Scholar
Sonenshein Raphael, 1993. Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Sonenshein Raphael, and Susan Pinkus. 2002. “The Dynamics of Latino Political Incorporation: The 2001 Los Angeles Mayoral Election as Seen in Los Angeles Times Exit Polls.” PS: Politics and Political Science 35 (March): 67– 74.Google Scholar
Tate Katherine. 1991. “Black Political Participation in the 1984 and 1988 Presidential Elections.” American Political Science Review 85 (December): 1159– 76.Google Scholar
Tate Katherine. 1993. From Protest to Politics: The New Black Voters in American Elections. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Tedin Kent T., and Richard W. Murray. 1981. “Dynamics of Candidate Choice in a State Election.” The Journal of Politics 43 (May): 435– 55.Google Scholar
Tomás Rivera Policy Institute. 2000. 2000 Presidential Survey of Latino Voters. Claremont, CA.
Uhlaner Carole, and F. Chris Garcia. 2005. “Learning Which Party Fits: Experience, Ethnic Identity, and the Demographic Foundations of Latino Party Identification.” In Diversity in Democracy, ed. Gary Segura and Shaun Bowler. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
Verba Sydney, Norman H. Nie, and Jae-on Kim 1978. Participation and Political Equality: A Seven-Nation Comparison. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Verba Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Volunteerism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Wattenberg Martin P. 1994. The Decline of American Political Parties, 1952–1992. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wolfinger Raymond E. 1965. “Development and Persistence of Ethnic Voting.” American Political Science Review 59 (December): 896– 908.Google Scholar
Wolfinger Raymond E., and Steven J. Rosenstone. 1980. Who Votes? New Haven: Yale University Press.
Zellner Arnold. 1962. “An efficient method for estimating seemingly unrelated regressions and tests for aggregation bias.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 57: 348– 68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.