Author: Miriam Jiménez
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136675965
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
This innovative book investigates the process through which ethnic minorities penetrate into higher echelons of political power: specifically, how they succeed in getting elected to the U.S. Congress. Analysts today see ethnic politicians largely in relation to their collectivities, but by actually studying what ethnic minority politicians do and the issues they have faced, Jiménez's book offers an original perspective of analysis. Jiménez utilizes a ground-breaking comparative dataset of elected members of Congress organized upon the basis of national origin, the first available. Using the cases of Mexican-Americans and Italian-Americans, Jimenez analyzes and compares the different ways that these ethnic politicians have been elected to the national legislature from the beginning of the 20th century until the present. Her study examines Italian and Mexican-American politicians’ actions and interactions with local political parties, identifies various layers of political power that have influenced their successes and failures, and uncovers the strategies that they have used. Jimenez argues that the politically active segment of an ethnic group matters in the process of political incorporation of a group. She also asserts that regular access of ethnic groups into upper levels of political office and the full acceptance of new ethnic players only occurs as a consequence of an institutional change. Jiménez’s pioneering documentation and analysis of the strategies of ethnic minority politicians and the ways that political institutions have influenced these politicians is significant to scholars of political incorporation, race and ethnicity, and congressional elections. Her book demonstrates the need to reconsider several standard ideas of how minority representation occurs and deepens our understanding of the role that political institutions play in that process.

Author: Jessica L. Lavariega Monforti
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440853479
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 731

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Book Description
This encyclopedia provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of Hispanic Americans engaged in U.S. politics, from increased visibility as governors and other lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels to their growing importance as a voting constituency. This encyclopedia comprehensively surveys the evolution of Latina/o engagement in US politics as voters, candidates, lawmakers, and public officials. It is an authoritative resource for public library patrons, high school students, and undergraduates in a variety of curricular studies, including political science, civics, American history, and Latino studies. The set's A–Z entries were carefully selected and crafted to ensure thorough coverage of all of the individuals, organizations, cultural forces, political issues, and legal decisions that have combined to elevate the role of Latinos at the polls, on the campaign trail, in Washington, and in mayors' offices, city councils, school boards, and statehouses all across the country. In-depth essays on the rising prominence of Latino Americans as voters, candidates, public officials, lawmakers, and opinion leaders will provide further context for understanding their impact on modern U.S. political processes and institutions from the perspective of liberals and conservatives alike.

Author: Tony Affigne
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814763790
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
More than 53 million Latinos now constitute the largest, fastest-growing, and most diverse minority group in the United States, and the nation’s political future may well be shaped by Latinos’ continuing political incorporation. In the 2012 election, Latinos proved to be a critical voting bloc in both Presidential and Congressional races; this demographic will only become more important in future American elections. Using new evidence from the largest-ever scientific survey addressed exclusively to Latino/Hispanic respondents, Latino Politics en Ciencia Política explores political diversity within the Latino community, considering how intra-community differences influence political behavior and policy preferences. The editors and contributors, all noted scholars of race and politics, examine key issues of Latino politics in the contemporary United States: Latino/a identities (latinidad), transnationalism, acculturation, political community, and racial consciousness. The book contextualizes today’s research within the history of Latino political studies, from the field’s beginnings to the present, explaining how systematic analysis of Latino political behavior has over time become integral to the study of political science. Latino Politics en Ciencia Política is thus an ideal text for learning both the state of the field today, and key dimensions of Latino political attitudes.

Author: Christina E. Bejarano
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135010617
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Many questions remain unanswered about the observable differences in voting behavior, partisanship, and cultural attitudes among men and women. Bejarano offers an authoritative, critical reflection on how this political gender gap is displayed in the racial/ethnic-minority groups in the U.S.

Author: Kofi Lomotey
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1621

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Book Description
This expansive, four-volume ready-reference work offers critical coverage of contemporary issues that impact people of color in the United States, ranging from education and employment to health and wellness and immigration. People of Color in the United States: Contemporary Issues in Education, Work, Communities, Health, and Immigration examines a wide range of issues that affect people of color in America today, covering education, employment, health, and immigration. Edited by experts in the field, this set supplies current information that meets a variety of course standards in four volumes. Volume 1 covers education grades K–12 and higher education; volume 2 addresses employment, housing, family, and community; volume 3 examines health and wellness; and volume 4 covers immigration. The content will enable students to better understand the experiences of racial and ethnic minorities as well as current social issues and policy. The content is written to be accessible to a wide range of readers and to provide ready-reference content for courses in history, sociology, psychology, geography, and economics, as well as curricula that address immigration, urbanization and industrialization, and contemporary American society.

Author: George Hawley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317701895
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
The United States is experiencing remarkable demographic changes that are having an important impact on the American electorate. As the minority share of the voting-eligible population continues to grow, the political clout of non-Hispanic whites will further decline. The 2012 election demonstrated that the Democratic Party can secure an Electoral College victory even when it loses badly, in the aggregate, among non-Hispanic whites. This does not mean that white voters are unimportant, however. The political behavior of whites in the decades ahead will largely determine the direction of American politics. This book examines the political behavior of non-Hispanic whites. It considers the trends within the white vote, how white voters differ geographically, and the primary fault lines among white voters. It also examines how white political behavior changes in response to diversity. It considers whether or not the day is approaching when whites consolidate into a largely homogenous voting bloc, or whether whites will remain politically heterogeneous in the decades ahead Whereas other books have examined the political behavior of specific social classes within the non-Hispanic white community (working class whites, for example), this is the first book to examine whites as a whole, and provide a useful summary of recent trends within this group and thoughtful speculation about its future.

Author: Becki Scola
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135010455
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Over the past several decades, the number of women elected to higher office in the United States has grown substantially. However, when the electoral gains of women are considered on a state-by-state basis, there are observable variations in the rate by state at which women are elected to state legislative office. Scholars have noted an additional variation in women office holders: that women of color serve at higher rates than white women. Becki Scola’s book provides an explanation for these two interrelated puzzles on electoral gender gaps. She examines the factors surrounding the uneven proportional distribution of female legislators, and then explores why gender appears to be an advantage for women of color office holders. Through an examination of the divergent state-level institutional and environmental conditions, Scola maps out the factors that contribute to more, or less, female legislative service and how race/ethnicity intersects with these conditions. She reveals that the common conceptions and theories that help us understand women’s office holding in general do not equally apply to both white women and women of color’s legislative service.. The first book-length study to analyze how race informs gender in terms of patterns of office holding, Gender, Race, and Office Holding in the United States provides insight into both underrepresentation in general as well as the underlying dynamics of representation within specific groups of women.

Author: Colton C. Campbell
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1003833314
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
This volume covers an aspect of Congress mostly untouched in literature, examining Congress through the lens of sports. Across a set of broad and probing chapters, this book offers insights into some of the historic and contemporary challenges that sports have presented to Congress, along with highlighting the ways in which Congress has impacted the sports industry. The authors utilize a wide range of case studies to provide readers with a contemporary view of the interplay between Congress and sports, at both amateur and professional levels. Perspectives are drawn from an interdisciplinary and cross-organizational roster of authors, uniquely positioned to discuss various subjects. With real attention now being given to issues associated with sports, and an increasing number of lawmakers using sports to push policy agendas and create legislative opportunities, this book will be a vital resource for understanding the dynamic relationship between the two entities. Grounded in relevant literature, and written in an accessible and engaging manner, Congress and the Politics of Sports will be of great interest to both academic researchers and practitioners involved with US politics, Congress and congressional studies, public policy, sports studies and sport history.

Author: Heather K. Evans
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136214240
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 127

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Book Description
Competition seems to be an inevitable part of present-day elections in the United States. However, recent publications have debated whether we should encourage or discourage competitive elections. In Competitive Elections and Democracy in America, Heather Evans closely examines the debate over competition in elections and questions whether or not they are beneficial for democracy in the US. Evans clearly lays out the basis of the debate over competition and defines what exactly constitutes a competitive election. She then uses an innovative data set that she assembled to analyze the 2006-2010 congressional elections, testing whether the competitiveness of an election affects citizens’ political knowledge, political interest, and opinions of Congress, their representatives, and the governmental system as a whole. She subsequently evaluates the positive effects that competitive elections have on constituencies, and in turn gives equal weight to the negative effects. An examination of the effects "ugly" campaigns have on voters is also incorporated, relevant to today’s oft-used "mud-slinging" campaign tactics. Evans concludes with a thoughtful and analytical assessment of whether competition is valuable for elections, and how to increase competition if it indeed has merit for political campaigns. Through the book’s analyses, Evans demonstrates that competitive elections do have lasting effects on voters that go beyond just the length of a campaign. Her research reinforces the vital role that political competition plays in modern democracies, and offers a careful evaluation of how and why competitive elections affect citizens in the US.

Author: David B. Holian
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317668383
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Voter perceptions of the personal traits of presidential candidates are widely regarded to be important influences on the vote. Media pundits frequently explain the outcome of presidential elections in terms of the personal appeal of the candidates. Despite the emphasis on presidential character traits in the media, the scholarly investigation in this area is limited. In this book, David Holian and Charles Prysby set out to examine the effect that trait perceptions have on the vote, how these perceptions are shaped by other attitudes and evaluations, and what types of voters are most likely to cast a ballot on the basis of the character traits of the presidential candidates. Using the American National Election Studies (ANES) surveys, the authors find that traits do have a very substantial effect on the vote, that different candidates have advantages on different traits, and that the opinions expressed by media pundits about how the candidates are viewed by the voters are often simplistic, and sometimes quite mistaken. Character traits are important to voters, but we need a better and more complete understanding of how and why these factors influence voters. An essential read which provides a clear and original argument to all those interested in furthering their understanding of the importance of candidate character traits for the quality of American elections and democracy.