Latino citizenship and participation in California politics: A Los Angeles county case study

Pacific Historical Review

Volumn 68, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 293-308

  Alvarez, R Michael ^a   Butterfield, Tara L ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT; IMMIGRANT POPULATION; LATINO PEOPLE; POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; POLITICAL POWER;

CALIFORNIA; LOS ANGELES; UNITED STATES;

EID: 0032863616     PISSN: 00308684     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3641989     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. The words "Hispanic" and "Latino" have been used interchangeably in the literature to name a person of Latin American origin living in the United States. For the sake of consistency, we have chosen to use the word Latino throughout this paper, except when quoting directly from a source.
2. All of the population estimates are from the California Department of Finance. These data and an explanation of how they are calculated are available at http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/Demograp/race-eth/htm. The Department of Finance used the 1990 Census data, as well as data collected annually at the county level, to produce estimates of the population of each racial and ethnic group from 1990 to 1996.
3. Rodolfo O. de la Garza, "El Cuento de los Números and Other Latino Political Myths," in Anibal Yanez-Chavez, ed., Latino Politics in California (San Diego, 1996); Carole J. Uhlaner, "Latinos and Ethnic Politics in California: Participation and Preference," in ibid.; Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady, Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge, Mass., 1995).
4. Rodolfo O. de la Garza, "El Cuento de los Números and Other Latino Political Myths," in Anibal Yanez-Chavez, ed., Latino Politics in California (San Diego, 1996); Carole J. Uhlaner, "Latinos and Ethnic Politics in California: Participation and Preference," in ibid.; Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady, Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge, Mass., 1995).
5. Rodolfo O. de la Garza, "El Cuento de los Números and Other Latino Political Myths," in Anibal Yanez-Chavez, ed., Latino Politics in California (San Diego, 1996); Carole J. Uhlaner, "Latinos and Ethnic Politics in California: Participation and Preference," in ibid.; Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady, Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge, Mass., 1995).
6. Carole J. Uhlaner, Bruce E. Cain, and D. Roderick Kiewiet, "Political Participation of Ethnic Minorities in the 1980's," Political Behavior, 11 (1989), 198.
7. In the 1992 presidential election, for example, 70 percent of whites, 64 percent of blacks, and 35 percent of Latinos turned out to vote. Forty-eight percent of those aged eighteen through twenty turned out, 55 percent of those aged twenty-one through twenty-four, and 75 percent of those aged forty-five through sixty-four. While 70 percent of the employed voted, only 54 percent of the unemployed did so. Only 44 percent of those with eight or fewer years of education voted, while 85 percent of those with at least four years of college did so. These turnout percentages are typical for national elections. Harold D. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington, D.C., 1995), 79-80.
8. Verba, Schlozman, and Brady, Voice and Equality, 165.
9. George Skelton, "A Wake-Up Call for GOP About a Wide-Awake Giant," Los Angeles Times, Dec. 15, 1997, A3, quoted a former adviser to Governor Pete Wilson as having summed it up this way: "We walked over the giant on our way to reelection in 1994, but in the process we woke it up."
10. David E. Hayes-Bautista and Gregory Rodriguez, "The Unintended Political Earthquake Set Off by Prop 187," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 12, 1995, M6.
11. Ruy A. Teixeira, The Disappearing American Voter (Washington, D.C., 1992).
12. Rodolfo O. de la Garza, Louis DeSipio, Angelo Falcon, F. Chris Garcia, and lohn Garcia Latino Voices: Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban Perspectives on American Politics (Boulder, Colo., 1992); Uhlaner, Cain, and Kieweit, "Political Participation of Ethnic Minorities."
13. Rodolfo O. de la Garza, Louis DeSipio, Angelo Falcon, F. Chris Garcia, and lohn Garcia Latino Voices: Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban Perspectives on American Politics (Boulder, Colo., 1992); Uhlaner, Cain, and Kieweit, "Political Participation of Ethnic Minorities."
14. Gary King, A Solution to the Ecological Inference Problem: Reconstructing Individual Behavior from Aggregate Data (Princeton, N.J., 1997).
15. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
16. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
17. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
18. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
19. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
20. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
21. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
22. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
23. Christopher H. Achen and W. Phillips Shively, Cross-Level Inference (Chicago, 1995) ; William Claggett and John Van Wingen, "An Application of Linear Programming to Ecological Inference: An Extension of an Old Procedure," American Journal of Political Science, 37 (1993), 633-661; O. Dudley Duncan and Beverly Davis, "An Alternative to Ecological Correlation," American Sociological Review, 18 (1953), 665-666; Robert R. Dykstra, "Ecological Regression Estimates: Alchemist's Gold?" Social Science History, 10 (1986), 85-90; William H. Flanigan and Nancy Zingale, "Alchemist's Gold: Inferring Individual Relationships from Aggregate Data," ibid., 9 (1985) 71-92; J. Morgan Kousser, "Speculation or Specification? A Note on Flanigan and Zingale," ibid., 10 (1986), 71-84; W. Phillips Shively, "Utilizing External Evidence in Cross-Level Inference," Political Methodology, 1 (1974), 61-74; W. Phillips Shively, "A General Extension of the Methods of Bounds, with Special Application to Studies of Electoral Transition," Historical Methods, 24 (1991), 81-94; Lee Sigelman, "Turning Cross Sections into a Panel: A Simple Procedure for Ecological Inference," Social Science Research, 20 (1991), 150-170.
24. King, A Solution to the Ecological Inference Problem.
25. As discussed earlier, we obtained the data about Latino and white voters from the California Department of Finance. These data provided estimates of Latino and white populations in each county from 1990 to 1996. To eliminate individuals in each county who are not eligible to vote (noncitizens, those under eighteen, and the institutionalized population), we used the 1990 Census estimates of the voting-age population in each county to obtain an estimate of the proportion of adults in each county who were eligible to register and vote.
26. st Century (Sacramento, 1992). Southern California consists of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernadino, and San Diego counties. Bay Area consists of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties. Central Coast consists of Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Ventura counties. Central Valley consists of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Ma-dera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Yolo counties. Mountains consists of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Sutter, Tuolumne, and Yuba counties. Northern consists of Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity counties.
27. Verba, Schlozman, and Brady, Voice and Equality; Uhlaner, "Latinos and Ethnic Politics in California."
28. Verba, Schlozman, and Brady, Voice and Equality; Uhlaner, "Latinos and Ethnic Politics in California."
29. "Budget Includes Funds to Curb Hispanic Dropouts," Orange County Register, Feb. 10, 1998, News 10.
30. Uhlaner, "Latinos and Ethnic Politics in California."
31. The 1994 estimates come from the Voter News Service California Exit Poll, Nov. 1994. The 1996 estimates are from the Los Angeles Times Poll, Study 389 (Exit Poll of the Nov. 5, 1996, General Election).