Latino Representation in State Houses and Congress

Examines the growth of the number of Latinos serving in US state legislatures and Congress in the past two decades.

Jason P. Casellas (Author)

9780521198974, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 December 2010

208 pages, 6 b/w illus. 39 tables
22.9 x 1.6 x 15.2 cm, 0.48 kg

“Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States. This path-breaking study of Latino representation in Congress and statehouses offers a thorough analysis of a topic of great national importance. The book fills a major void in existing literatures on race and ethnic representation, American politics, and legislative studies. It is a appropriate for policymakers as well as graduate and undergraduate students. I highly recommend it for classroom adoptions.”
—Carol M. Swain, Vanderbilt University

This book argues that Latino representation in US legislative institutions is shaped not only by demographics but by legislative institutional design, as well as elite-driven methods, features of the electoral system, and the increasing mainstreaming of Latinos in American society. The election of Latino legislators in the United States is thus complex and varied. This book provides evidence on how successful Latinos have been in winning state legislative and congressional districts in which they have no natural advantage. In particular, this book demonstrates that Latino candidates benefit from higher percentages of Latino citizens in the state, more liberal citizenries and citizen legislatures. Jason Casellas argues that the legislatures most conducive to the election of Latino candidates are Florida, New Mexico and California, whereas the least conducive are the US House and New York.

1. Introduction
2. Latinos in legislatures: historical and theoretical setting
3. The effects of population, turnover, and term limits on Latino representation
4. District composition and the election of Latino candidates
5. Electing Latinos in non-Latino majority districts
6. Voices from within: how Latino legislators see themselves
7. Roll call voting behavior of Latino legislators
8. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Sociology [JHB]