Diversity in Democracy

by Segura, Gary M.; Bowler, Shaun

• ISBN13: 9780813923383
• ISBN10: 0813923387
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-30
• Publisher: Univ of Virginia Pr

Summary

As the racial and ethnic minority populations of the United States grow past 30 percent, candidates cannot afford to ignore the minority vote. The studies collected in Diversity and Democracy show that political scientists, too, must fully recognize the significance of minority-representation studies for our understanding of the electoral process in general.If anything has limited such inquiry in the past, it has been the tendency for researchers to address only a single group or problem, yielding little that can be applied to other contexts. Diversity in Democracy avoids this limitation by examining several aspects of representation, including both Latino and African American perspectives, and a wide range of topics, ranging from the dynamics of partisanship to various groups' perceptions of the political system. The result is a work that pulls together decades of disparate work into a broad and cohesive overview of minority representation.The most significant conclusion to emerge from this multifaceted examination is the overwhelming importance of context. There is no single strategic key, but taken together, these studies begin to map the strategies, institutions, and contexts that enhance or limit minority representation. In navigating the complexities of minority politics, moreover, the book reveals much about American representative democracy that pertains to all of us.ContributorsSusan A. Banducci, Texas Tech University * Matt A. Barreto, University of California, Irvine * Shaun Bowler, University of California, Riverside * Todd Donovan, Western Washington University * Luis Ricardo Fraga, Stanford University * F. Chris Garcia, University of New Mexico * Elisabeth R. Gerber, University of Michigan * Stacy B. Gordon, University of Nevada, Reno * Bernard Grofman, University of California, Irvine * Zoltan L. Hajnal, University of California, San Diego * Sarah Harsh, Fleishman Hillard * Rodney E. Hero, University of Notre Dame * Martin Johnson, University of California, Riverside * Jeffrey A. Karp, Texas Tech University * Hugh Louch, Cambridge Systematics * Stephen P. Nicholson, Georgia State University * Adrian D. Pantoja, Arizona State University * Gary M. Segura, University of Iowa * Katherine Tate, University of California, Irvine * Caroline J. Tolbert, Kent State University * Carole J. Uhlaner, University of California, Irvine * Nathan D. Woods, Welch Consulting

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction: Social, Political, and Institutional Context and the Representation of Minority Americans	p. 1
Microfoundations of Minority Politics
More Alike Than Different: Explaining Political Information among African Americans and Latinos	p. 29
Issue Agendas and the Politics of Latino Partisan Identification	p. 51
Learning Which Party Fits: Experience, Ethnic Identity, and the Demographic Foundations of Latino Party Identification	p. 72
The Racial Composition of Social Networks and African American Commitment to the Democratic Party	p. 102
Context and Minority Access to Decision Making
Tyranny of the Majority?: Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Direct Democracy	p. 123
Latino Voting Behavior in an Anti-Latino Political Context: The Case of Los Angeles County	p. 148
Exploring Minority Political Efficacy: Considering the Impact of Social and Institutional Context	p. 170
Descriptive Representation and Its Behavioral Implications
Effects of Minority Representation on Political Attitudes and Participation	p. 193
"A Portrait of the People": Descriptive Representation and Its Impact on U.S. House Members' Ratings	p. 216
Cumulative Voting and Minority Representation: Can It Work?	p. 232
Racial and Ethnic Politics in a New Century
Race and Redistricting in the Twenty-first Century	p. 253
Racial and Ethnic Politics in a Multicultural Society	p. 278
Contributors	p. 303
Index	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.