Mobilizing Opportunities: The Evolving Latino Electorate and the Future of American Politics - Paperback

by Ricardo Ramirez (Author)

The growth of the Latino population is the most significant demographic shift in the United States today. Yet growth alone cannot explain this population's increasing impact on the electorate; nor can a parsing of its subethnicities. In the most significant analysis to date on the growing political activation of Latinos, Ricardo Ram rez identifies when and where Latino participation in the political process has come about as well as its many motivations. Using a state-centered approach, the author focuses on the interaction between demographic factors and political contexts, from long-term trends in party competition, to the resources and mobilization efforts of ethnic organizations and the Spanish-language media, to the perception of political threat as a basis for mobilization.

The picture that emerges is one of great temporal and geographic variation. In it, Ram rez captures the transformation of Latinos' civic and political reality and the engines behind the evolution of this crucial electorate.

Race, Ethnicity, and Politics

Author Biography

Ricardo Ramírez, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, is the coeditor of Transforming Politics, Transforming America: The Political and Civic Incorporation of Immigrants in the United States (Virginia).