Transcript Latino Political Participation

Latino Political Participation
Ch. 6
Latino Political Participation
• Critical Objective for Latino Political
Participation:
– Convert growing adult population into a more
politically oriented & immersed population.
• Remains a central target for Latino Politics
Chapter 7 Examinations
• Current patterns of Latino political
participation
• Critical contributing factors of Latino political
participation
• As well as areas in which there is a need for
systematic information.
American Political Culture
• Political participation envisioned as:
– Fundamental Right
• Obliging individuals to participate in the political
process.
• Central dimensions of political participation:
– Having access, pursuing political interests,
knowing the rules of the game, developing
effective political resources, having responsive
representatives, & influencing policy making
process.
What is Political Participation?
• Political Participation:
– Involvement of an individual or group in the
central objective of influencing the policy-making
process & the substance of policies themselves.
What Does Political Participation
Entail?
• 1. Accumulating & utilizing resources:
– Political Resources Include:
• Time, money, & communication & organizational skills
– Resources equip individuals to engage in political arena w/ knowledge,
available time, & pertinent skills to articulate their objectives & effect
change.
• 2. Developing positive participatory orientations:
– Such orientations develop political attitudes conducive to
participation, political & personal efficacy, political trust &
interest, & sense of group consciousness.
• 3. Recruiting others for involvement:
– Individuals involvement mainly dependent upon being
asked to participate
Political Socialization
• Political socialization plays a critical role in
development of individual’s participatory
future.
– Family discussions of issues political & exposure to
political events (rallies, campaigns..) leave lasting
imprint on young person.
• Family Background plays a crucial role in political & civic
engagement (volunteer experience, religious
organizations, politically active parents)
• Along w/ gender, race, and ethnicity play important role
in early socialization.
Literature on Political Participation
• Literature indicates who participates & does
not:
– Participation according to literature involves:
• (1) resources (2) psychological orientation & (3)
recruitment
– (1) Resources:
• Accumulation of time (opportunity to participate & the
time to do so), money (valuable resources for
engagement & identification in networks), & skills
(ability & confidence to engage in political activities)
– Education plays HUGE role in skill acquisition
Political Participation
• Ingredients for political participation center on
an individual’s:
– Abilities & acquired skills,
– Position in job setting,
– & Resources base from which to engage in
political matters.
• Demographic Profiles of Latinos as a group:
– Do not often possess the necessary time, money,
and skills
Mobilization
• Participation dialogue must include recruitment
& mobilization:
– Individuals get politically active when they are asked
to do so
• Political Mobilization entails:
– Efforts by political parties, organizations, candidates,
& leaders to persuade individuals to participate.
• Mobilization can be direct (contacting & encouraging certain
actions or responses) or indirect (social media)
– Primary networks are based in the workplace or the
neighborhood
Targeted Mobilization
• Targeted Mobilization:
– Involves the identification of persons who, when
contacted, are more likely to respond to calls for
involvement.
• Research indicates persons most likely to be targeted:
– Employed, belong to & serve as leaders in organizations, more
educated, higher income levels, & some partisan history.
Mobilization Efforts
• Mobilization more successful if the contact is
made between persons who know each other.
• Timing is essential ingredient
– When person is asked to participate the issue or
event is usually very near.
• Thus the outcome is hanging in the balance, &
identifiable consequences will affect the targeted
individual.
America’s Political Participation
• America’s political participation:
– Very limited & Sporadic
• Persons who can’t participate vs. Persons who do not want
to participate in politics
– Persons who can’t participate:
• Excluded by restrictions like age requirements, noncitizen or felon
status, language barriers & the like.
– Persons who do not want to participate:
• Usually not interested, deem other things more important, lack in
time, find politics too complicated or boring, or feel distrustful of &
cynical about politics.
– Last category of nonparticipants is never asked because mobilizers do not
perceive such persons as likely to become involved nor having a useful
position amongst networks.
» Size of nonparticipant group varies by type of political activities
available.
American Political Participation
• Most common form of political participation
centers on elections.
– U.S. holds greatest # of elections each year
• Political Participation seen as election dominated
– Voter registration & turnout become primary indicators
– In addition to voting, political campaigns involve:
• Making campaign contributions
• Doing volunteer work
• Posting campaign signs or wearing campaign buttons &
attending rallies
– Ultimate form of participation is seeking political office
Other Dimensions of Political
Participation
• Belonging to organized groups:
– Can be political or nonpolitical
• Protest activities
• Talking about politics
– Or trying to persuade another individual to support a
given candidate or proposition
• Partisan Activities
– Linked to a particular party
• Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Independents, Socialists,
Libertarians etc.
American Political Participation
• Active political participation integral part of
viable democracy
• Actual practice of participation is very uneven
Latino Political Participation
• Social Scientists, marketers, & journalists:
– Only recently have chronicled Latinos in the
political system.
• Three primary sources of author’s portrayal of
Latino Political Participation include:
– Participation in America II (1995)
– Latino National Survey (Fraga et al. 2006)
– Pew Hispanic Research Center surveys (2004)
Latino Political Participation
• General Conclusions:
– (1) Overall rates of participation are lower than
those for the general population
– (2) There is evidence of accepting participatory
orientations, but participation does not
necessarily follow
– (3) Rates of organizational involvement and
activities are lower
Latino Political Participation
• General Conclusions:
– (5) A significant proportion of the Latino subcommunities comprises foreign born noncitizens
– (6) There is a feeling of distance from & disinterest
in the political world
Latino Political Participation
• Three primary sources for author’s portrayal
of Latino political participation:
– (1) The Participation in America II study (1995)
• Verba, Scholzman, & Brady
– (2) The Latino National Survey (2006)
• Fraga
– (3) The Pew Hispanic Research Center Surveys
(2004)
Latino Political Participation
• What is Found?
– Tables 6.1-6.10
• Pgs. 81-92
– 6.1 Civic Engagement among Latinos (Pew)
– 6.2 Volunteer Activity among Latinos (Pew)
– 6.3 Manner of Addressing Issues or Problems by NationalOrigin (LNS)
– 6.4 Actions Taken to Help a Party of Candidate Win an Election
by Racial & Ethnic Group (Nat’l Political Ethic Survey)
– 6.5 Contacting Officials by Generation & Citizenship (LNS)
– 6.6 Interest in Politics & Public Affairs by National Origin (LNS)
Latino Political Participation
• What is Found?
– Tables 6.1-6.10
• Pgs. 81-92
– 6.7 Summary of Participatory Scores for Respondents
(American Study)
– 6.8 Latino Parents Who Meet w/ Their Child’s Teacher (LNS)
– 6.9 PTA Mtg. Attendance by Generation & Citizenship (LNS)
– 6.10 Assessment of Parents’ Interactions w/ School Officials
among LNS’s Respondents by Educational Attainment (LNS)
Contributors to Latino Political
Participation
• Primary Contributing Factors:
– Time, $, communication, & organizational skills as
well as participatory orientations.
• Political resources are critical for active involvement in
the political arena
• Latinos have been characterized as less
politically involved than other segments of the
American body politic.
Liabilities to Latino Political
Participation
• Liabilities Include:
– Youthful population
– Significant foreign-born sub-community
– Relatively lower levels of educational attainment
– A greater proportion of non-English or limitedEnglish speakers
– Lower rates of organizational affiliation &
involvement
Assets for Latino Political Participation
• Assets Include:
– Rapidly growing population
• Will also increase its proportion of the adult population
– Population concentrations in populous states &
metropolitan areas
– Rise of organizational capacities & experienced
leadership
– Effective mobilization strategies
– Slowly improving socioeconomic status
Conclusion
• Past 35yrs. Latino political participation has
been characterized as limited & marginal
• Only since mid-1990s has research into Latino
political participation been conducted &
published
– Main focus on 3 main sub-groups Mexicans,
Puerto Ricans, & Cubans
– Social Science knowledge about Central & South
Americans is slowly becoming available
Conclusion cont’d
• Part of the nature of trying to understand
Latinos & their politics:
– Is the dynamic & changing situations &
developments that are ongoing