Strength in Numbers?

by Leighley, Jan E.

• ISBN13: 9780691086712
• ISBN10: 0691086710
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-23
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

America's increasing racial and ethnic diversity is viewed by some as an opportunity to challenge and so reinforce the country's social fabric; by others, as a portent of alarming disunity. While everyone agrees that this diversity is markedly influencing political dynamics not only nationally but often on the state and local levels, we know little about how racial and ethnic groups organize and participate in politics or how political elites try to mobilize them. This book tells us. By integrating class-based factors with racial and ethnic factors, Jan Leighley shows what motivates African-Americans, Latinos, and Anglos to mobilize and participate in politics. Drawing on national survey data and on interviews with party and elected officials in Texas, she develops a nuanced understanding of how class, race, and ethnicity act as individual and contextual influences on elite mobilization and mass participation. Leighley examines whether the diverse theoretical approaches generally used to explain individual participation in politics are supported for the groups under consideration. She concludes that the political and social context influences racial and ethnic minorities' decisions to participate, but that different features of those environments are important for different groups. Race and ethnicity structure participation more than previous research suggests. Casting new light on an issue at the crux of contemporary American politics,Strength in Numbers?will be welcomed by scholars and students of political science, African-American and Latino studies, urban politics, and social movements.

Author Biography

Jan Leighley is Professor of Political Science at Texas AandM University

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	ix
Preface	xiii
Race, Class, and Political Participation: The Argument	3	(12)
Mass and Minority Participation: Theoretical Frameworks	15	(13)
Mobilization and Participation: Preliminary Evidence	28	(22)
Electoral Mobilization: Elite Conceptualization and Technique	50	(26)
Electoral Targeting: Elite Strategies and Context	76	(26)
Minority Political Mobilization	102	(24)
Minority Political Participation	126	(19)
Anglo Political Participation in Context	145	(21)
Summary and Conclusion	166	(8)
Appendix A	174	(5)
References Cited	179	(12)
Index	191