Latino Identity and Political Attitudes: Why Are Latinos Not Republican?

290 Pages·2017·5.805 MB·English

by  Angel Saavedra Cisneros (auth.)

LATINO IDENTITY
AND POLITICAL
ATTITUDES
Why Are Latinos
Not Republican?
ANGEL SAAVEDRA CISNEROS
Latino Identity and Political Attitudes
Angel   Saavedra Cisneros
Latino Identity and
Political Attitudes
Why Are Latinos Not Republican?
Angel   Saavedra Cisneros
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, Texas, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-33968-9 ISBN 978-3-319-33969-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-33969-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016940494
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 017
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A mi familia
Gordo, Sarita, Juanito, Paty, Sarita, Citlali y Gelito
Los amo.
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would have been impossible to complete without the support
of many people. I am fi rst indebted to Helmut Norpoth, my adviser who
was willing to help out on this project despite the many adversities it was
facing. To my professors at Stony Brook University, who gave me feedback
and helped improve the ideas and analyses in this book. I want to also
thank John Garcia for his thorough feedback on earlier versions of this
project. Also to the anonymous reviewers who pushed me to explore other
literatures to enrich my theories.
My friends also provided critical feedback at different stages of this proj-
ect. My graduate school friends were invaluable, both as emotional and
scholarly support. The faculty at Clarkson University helped me launch
this idea forward and present my preliminary fi ndings. I also appreciate
their valuable guidance in fi nding the right voice for this project—thank
you, Chris, Bill, Stephen, Steve, and Dan. I also wish to thank Jennifer
Merolla for allowing me to present my research in her graduate seminar;
that event led me to improve many of the concepts I had been working on
previously. Lisa Magaña also provided guidance and encouragement to be
able to complete this project.
My colleagues Natasha Altema-McNeely, Ben Woodson, and Efrén
Pérez were crucial to completing this project. Their willingness to help me
work through the many problems in my prose and organizational struc-
ture is beyond my comprehension. They are truly role models for anyone
in this profession. They provided consistent support throughout the fi nal
years of the project. Without their contributions, this book would not
have been possible.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Last, I would like to thank my family. Their ability to remind me that
I am a capable human being has been a strong motivating factor in this
endeavor. My parents have supported and pushed me to become a better
scholar. Thanks to my wife, Paty, for listening to my ideas, understanding
when I jump up with what I think is a great thought, and calming me
down when I felt like throwing things on to the fl oor; Angelito for read-
ing my paragraphs, listening to my rants, and for helping me want to be a
better person. My two amazing girls, Sarita and Citlali, have reminded me
that there is much beauty in this world and that through love and compas-
sion, happiness is always near.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction: The Puzzle of Latino Partisanship 1
Part I Latinos and the American Political Landscape 31
2 The Political Profi les of Latinos in America 33
3 A Theory of Latino Partisanship: From Social
to Political Identity 69
Part II L atinos, Identity, Parties and Immigration:
Juntos Pero No Revueltos (Together, But Not
Mixed Up) 99
4 Latino Partisanship: All About Immigration? 101
5 The Symbolic Role of Immigration: Effects of the 2006
Spring Marches on Latino Political Behavior 133
ix
x CONTENTS
Part III Latinos and Their Sociopolitical Identities 149
6 Latino Group Identity: Measuring a Moving Target 151
7 From Social to Political Identity: The Importance
of Incorporation and Thinking about Politics 187
8 Direct and Indirect Effects of Identity
on Party Identifi cation 215
9 Conclusion: Latinos, Identity, and a Grim Forecast
for Republican Hopes 239
Statistical Appendix by Chapter 255
Bibliography 277
Index 281
L F
IST OF IGURES
Fig. 1.1 Hispanic or Latino population as a percent of
total population by county: 2010 10
Fig. 1.2 Percentage change in Hispanic or Latino population
by county: 2000–2010 11
Fig. 2.1 U.S. Census wording for questions of Ethnicity,
or Hispanic, LatinAmerican or Latino heritage 35
Fig. 2.2 Partisan identifi cation by racial or ethnic group in percent 3 8
Fig. 2.3 Different ways of viewing partisanship. (A) Partisanship
as discrete choice. (B) Partisanship as continuous choice 41
Fig. 2.4 Average ideological placement on seven-point scale
(1 most liberal to 7 most conservative) 47
Fig. 2.5 Support/opposition to increased government spending
(economic policy attitudes) for Latinos, Republicans,
and Democrats 49
Fig. 2.6 Views on social (most liberal to most conservative) and
immigration issues (from pro- to anti-immigration) for
Latinos, Republicans, and Democrats 51
Fig. 3.1 Strength of identities among Latinos by generation 7 4
Fig. 4.1 Top mentions for “most important issue facing the
Latino community” 2006–2014 112
Fig. 4.2 Predicted probabilities of 2004 Bush vote by partisanship
and issue importance 116
Fig. 4.3 Percentage of “which political party has a better approach
to address this problem.” (A) Most important problem
facing the country (B) Most important problem facing
the Latino community 121
xi