This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pantoja, A. D. Articles by Segura, G. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Citizens by Choice, Voters by Necessity: Patterns in Political Mobilization by Naturalized Latinos

Illinois State University

Ricardo Ramirez

Stanford University

Gary M. Segura

University of Iowa

In this article, we compare the 1996 turnout among cohorts of naturalized and native-born Latino citizens, looking for between-group differences endogenous to recent anti-immigrant rhetoric and events in California. We argue that immigrants naturalizing in a politically charged environment represent a self-selected subsample of all voters, identifying individuals who feel strohgly about the political issues at hand, and who seek enfranchisement as an act of political expression. We suggest that newly naturalized citizens living in California made exactly these choices, which differentiate them from native-born citizens, longer-term naturalized citizens, and Latinos in other states. Using the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute's 1997 three-state survey of citizen attitudes, validated using original registrars-of-voters data, we estimate multivariate logit models of individual turnout of Latino citizens in each state for the 1996 national election. The data support our hypotheses. Newly naturalized Latinos in California behave differently from other Latino citizens of California, and the patterns of difference are not replicated in either Florida or Texas. Turnout was higher among those who naturalized in the politically hostile climate of California in the early 1990s. Our results suggest important political effects of wedge-issue politics that target Latino immigrants.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. D. Kam, E. J. Zechmeister, and J. R. Wilking From the Gap to the Chasm: Gender and Participation among Non-Hispanic Whites and Mexican Americans Political Research Quarterly, June 1, 2008; 61(2): 205 - 218. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. D. Pantoja, R. Ramirez, and G. M. Segura Commentary on "Citizens by Choice, Voters by Necessity: Patterns in Political Mobilization by Naturalized Latinos" Political Research Quarterly, March 1, 2008; 61(1): 50 - 52. [PDF]

				T. Donovan Introduction to the Symposium: Diversity and Democracy Political Research Quarterly, June 1, 2007; 60(2): 274 - 276. [PDF]

				R. Branton Latino Attitudes toward Various Areas of Public Policy: The Importance of Acculturation Political Research Quarterly, June 1, 2007; 60(2): 293 - 303. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. D. McIlwain Racial Identity, Ideology, and the Youth Vote: Observations From the 2004 Presidential Campaign American Behavioral Scientist, May 1, 2007; 50(9): 1231 - 1238. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Ramirez Segmented Mobilization: Latino Nonpartisan Get-Out-the-Vote Efforts in the 2000 General Election American Politics Research, March 1, 2007; 35(2): 155 - 175. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. A. Nuno Latino Mobilization and Vote Choice in the 2000 Presidential Election American Politics Research, March 1, 2007; 35(2): 273 - 293. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. A. Barreto Latino Immigrants at the Polls: Foreign-born Voter Turnout in the 2002 Election Political Research Quarterly, March 1, 2005; 58(1): 79 - 86. [Abstract] [PDF]