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Section 7.3: Political System

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    208214
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    Political System

    For decades, the Latinx population was referred to as "the sleeping giant" of politics in the United States because of its potential to significantly impact both local and national elections. In his book Harvest of Empire, Juan Gonzalez refers to the decade of the 1990s as a turning point for the Latinx population, when the organizing and voter registration efforts of Latinx political organizations such as the Southwest Voter Registration Project (SVREP) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) really began to move the needle on Latinx voter registration and turnout. He refers to the period after 1995 as the rise of the "Third Force" in American politics, breaking away from the Black/white dichotomy and assumptions of previous eras.

    In terms of the eligible voter population, the Latinx population accounts for 39% of the increase between 2000 and 2018. In comparison, the white population accounts for 24%, African Americans account for 17%, and Asian-American account for 14%.

    The chart shows that most of the growth in the electorate since 2000 has come from Hispanic, Black and Asian eligible voters
     
    Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\):The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of the U.S. Electorate. (Used with permission; Pew Research Center)

    Figure 8.4.x shows that significant increase in Latinx voter turnout for a midterm election. While in 2014, 6.8 out of 25.1 million (27%) Latinx eligible voters turned out to voter, in 2018 this increased to 11.7 million out of 29 million (40%). This represents a 13% increase in voter turnout.

    The chart shows that there was a significant increase in Latinx voter turnout for a midterm election.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Latino Voter Turnout in 2018 reached a record high for a midterm election year. (Used with permission; Pew Research Center)

    With regard to political affiliation, Cuban-American registered voters are much more likely to identify as Republicans. Figure 8.4.6 shows that 58% of Cubans identified as Republicans compared to only 32% of non-Cuban Latinx people. Conversely, only 38% of Cubans identified as Democrats compared to 65% of their non-Cuban counterparts.

    The chart shows that Most Cuban Americans voters identify as Republican in 2020.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): Most Cuban Americans voters identify as Republican in 2020. (Used with permission; Pew Research Center)

     

    Contributors and Attributions

    Works Cited

    • Gill R. & Vasquez, C. (1996). The Maria Paradox: How Latinas Can Merge Old World Traditions with New World Self-Esteem. New York: Putnam.
    • Gonzalez-Lopez, G. & Vidal-Ortiz, S. (2008). Latinas and Latinos, sexuality and society: A critical sociological perspective in Latinas/os in Rodriguez, H. et al (Eds.). 2008. The United States: Changing the Face of America. New York: Springer. p. 308-322.
    • Krogstad J.M., Gonzalez-Barrera A., & Noe-Bustamante L. (2020). U.S. Latinos among hardest hit by pay cuts, job losses due to Coronavirus. Pew Research Center.
    • Krogstad J.M. & Lopez M.H. (2014, September). Hispanic immigrants more likely to lack health insurance than U.S. born. Pew Research Center.
    • Landale N., Oropesa R., & Bradatan C. (2006) Hispanic families in the US: Family structure and process in an era of family change. in Tienda, M. & Mitchell, F. (Eds.). 2006. Hispanics and the Future of America. Washington, DC: National Academies Press
    • Light M., He J., & Robey J. (2020, December). Comparing crime rates between undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and native-born US citizens in Texas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
    • Myers, D. (2007). Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America. Russell Sage.
    • Educational attainment of Hispanic population in the U.S. (2019). Pew Research Center.
    • Vigdor, J. (2008). Measuring immigrant assimilation in the United States. Manhattan Institute.

    This page titled Section 7.3: Political System is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Carlos Ramos.

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