Seung-Jin Jang 〈jangsj@kookmin.ac.kr〉 will share all data and coding for replication purposes. The authors thank David Epstein, Robert Erikson, and Robert Shapiro for reading the article and providing helpful comments.
1540-6237/asset/ssqu_left.gif?v=1&s=704f42f87d78306e34b2e6c4a436cccd393e2875)
1540-6237/asset/ssqu_right.gif?v=1&s=c83ddf94eedc044152055a5bd3c24be57c5d194d)
Original Article
Why the Giant Sleeps So Deeply: Political Consequences of Individual-Level Latino Demographics†
Article first published online: 5 OCT 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00807.x
© 2011 by the Southwestern Social Science Association
Additional Information
How to Cite
de la Garza, R. O. and Jang, S.-J. (2011), Why the Giant Sleeps So Deeply: Political Consequences of Individual-Level Latino Demographics. Social Science Quarterly, 92: 895–916. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00807.x
- †
Publication History
- Issue published online: 14 OCT 2011
- Article first published online: 5 OCT 2011
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Objectives
We seek to examine what common characteristics Latino voters share distinctively from nonvoting Latinos and how they differ from those of non-Latino voters.
Methods
We use the method of classification tree to find what variables best describe the shared characteristics of Latino and non-Latino voters.
Results
The results indicate that age, the strength of partisanship, and the level of education characterize both Latino and non-Latino voters. However, there is a sharp difference in how age interacts with other the two variables. In the Latino sample, the overwhelming majority of younger people do not turn out to vote, and it is among older Latinos that education and partisanship play an important role in distinguishing voters and nonvoters. By contrast, among non-Latinos, it is younger people whose participation is sensitive to the level of education or strength of partisanship, while the older are overwhelmingly voters regardless of other factors.
Conclusions
At the individual level, Latinos in the United States still face substantial barriers in political incorporation: in contrast to non-Latinos, they do not seem to develop the habit of voting even after they have aged enough, unless they are helped by higher levels of education or stronger partisanship. At the aggregate level, the pool of Latino likely voters is relatively small, which in turn emphasizes the potential significance of the GOTV campaigns in increasing participation rates among Latinos.