Latinos constitute the fastest-growing population in the United States today, and Latino political participation is growing rapidly. Still, Latino political power is not commensurate with the numbers, and much potential remains to be tapped. In LatinoPolitics in America, author John A. García examines the development of this vibrant community and points the way toward a future of shared interests and coalitions among the diverse Latino subgroups. This newly revised edition lays out the basic factsof Latino America—who Latinos are, where they come from, where they reside—and then connects these facts to political realities of immigration, citizenship, voting, education, organization, and leadership. García's nuanced portrait of contemporary Latinopolitical life, first published in 2003, has been updated throughout to include data from the 2010 census and the 2008 and 2010 elections.

The fourth edition of this widely-used textbook introduces students to what it means to be a Latino American culturally and politically at a time of unprecedented challenges for America’s diverse and fastest-growing ethnic group. Garcia and Sanchez provide an in-depth examination of the individual communities that comprise the Latino culture, and how those bonds affect political development and decisions. With a look at voting, immigration, political engagement, and the critical public policies that constitute a Latino agenda, Garcia and Sanchez provide substantive insight on Latino pan-ethnic identity, growing policy issues, political participation, and the impact of changing Latino sub-groups.

Through an in-depth study of the Latino community in Boston, Carol hardy-Fanta addressees three key debates in American politics: how to look at the ways in which women and men envision the meaning of politics and political participation; how to understand culture and the political life of expanding immigrant populations; and how to create a more participatory America. The author's interviews with Latinos from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Central and South America and her participation in community events in North Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and the South End document the often ignored contribution of Latina women as candidates, political mobilizers, and community organizers. Hardy-Fanta examines critical gender differences in how politics is defined, what strategies Latina women and Latino men use to generate political participation, and how culture and gender interact in the political empowerment of the ethic communities. Hardy-Fanta challenges the notion of political apathy among Latinos and presents factors that stimulate political participation. She finds that the vision of politics promoted by Latina women—one based on connectedness, collectivity, community, and consiousness-raising—contrasts sharply with a male political concern for status, hierarchy, and personal opportunity.

This collection of original essays explores the major challenges to Latino political representation in cities where Latino populations do not make up the majority of the population and therefore cannot rely on sheer numbers to gain representation.

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.

Due to the dramatic growth of the Latino population in America, in combination with the relative decline of the Anglo (non-Hispanic white) share, Latino Studies is increasingly at the forefront of political concern. With Latino Politics: Identity, Mobilization, and Representation, editors Rodolfo Espino, David L. Leal, and Kenneth J. Meier bring together essays from a number of leading scholars to address the ever-more important issues within the field. Providing an overview of issues surrounding Latino identity and political opinion--such as differences among Latino groups based on national origin, the importance of descriptive representation, and issues of competition and cooperation, particularly with reference to African Americans--the editors speak to the many fundamental debates ingrained in the discipline. In addition to highlighting important contributions of the study of Latino politics to date, this volume suggests areas that have yet to be explored and, perhaps more importantly, demonstrates how the study of Latino politics relates to broader questions of American politics and society. Foregrounding debates in the overall discipline of political science, the collection will appeal to those who study Latino politics as well as those who are interested in understanding American politics and society with reference to Latino and "minority" concerns. Contributors Rodney E. Hero, University of Notre Dame * Benjamin Márquez, University of Wisconsin, Madison * David L. Leal, University of Texas at Austin * Michael Jones-Correa, Cornell University * Matt A. Barreto, University of Washington * Ricardo Ramírez, University of Southern California * Louis DeSipio, University of California, Irvine * Adrian D. Pantoja, Arizona State University * Sylvia Manzano, Texas A&M University * Helena Alves Rodrigues, University of Arizona * Gary M. Segura, University of Washington * René R. Rocha, University of Iowa * Luis Ricardo Fraga, University of Washington * Sharon A. Navarro, University of Texas at San Antonio * Rodolfo Espino, Arizona State University * Jason P. Casellas, University of Texas at Austin * Eric Gonzalez Juenke, University of Colorado at Boulder * Nick A. Theobald, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo * Valerie Martinez-Ebers, Texas Christian University * Manuel Avalos, Arizona State University * Kenneth J. Meier, Texas A&M University

Using the most extensive and currently available survey opinion data, this book empirically supports the argument that Latinos have emerged as a convergent panethnic political group, beyond the individual national origin identities dating to the time of the 1990 Latino National Political Survey when Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans were treated conceptually as politically distinct groups. Replete with data and supplemented by an extensive online resource, this book offers scholars, students, and sophisticated general readers evidence and inspiration for understanding the dynamics of Latino politics in the U.S. today.

This book examines the current status of Mexicano and Latino politics in the United States. Political scientist and community activist Armando Navarro maintains that both represent a dysfunctional and failed mode of politics, attributable to their system maintenance and mainstream ideological orientation and approach. As colonial agents, they protect both a United States that is decaying and declining and the degenerative liberal capitalist system. Navarro argues that the United States is not a representative democracy; but in fact, is a “White Corpocratic Dictatorship” controlled by Capital, which is evolving into a Fascist State. The book provides an in-depth analysis and contention that Mexicanos and Latinos in Aztlán (Southwest) are an “occupied and internal colonized people.” It argues they are the “Palestinians and Kurds” of the United States. His supposition is sustained by the book’s profiles of Mexicano political history, demography, socioeconomics, electoral politics, immigration, and the Triad Crisis (e.g., Second Great Depression, Global Economic Crisis, and Global Capitalist Crisis). Each chapter provides the justification and case for Navarro’s two unique alternative change models, applicable to today’s bankrupt and failed Mexicano and Latino Politics in the twenty-first century. The preferred model is “Aztlán’s Politics of a Nation-Within-a-Nation (APNWN),” which is based on the models of the Mormon Nation of Utah and that of French Quebec. Navarro, therefore, calls for the reformation of the United States’ liberal capitalist system by way of social democracy for the empowerment of Mexicanos and Latinos. His second model is “Aztlán’s Politics of Separatism” (APS), which offers two strategic options, (1) Aztlán (Southwest) becoming a separate and sovereign nation-state or (2) its reannexation and re-integration with Mexico. Navarro outlines a “plan of action” for building a New Movement designed to attain APNWN or APS. In addition, several ominous forecasts are made, such as the United States being in a state of decline and no longer a hegemonic superpower due to the rise of a multi-polar world. Moreover, Navarro attributes the United States’ decline to the inherent contradictions of global capitalism. His sobering message is that if the current economic conditions are left unchanged, this will produce an “End of Times” scenario—the unleashing of the “Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.”

The Latin-American population has become a major force in American politics in recent years, with expanding influences in local, state, and national elections. The candidates in the 2004 campaign wooed Latino voters by speaking Spanish to Latino audiences and courting Latino groups and PACs. Recognizing the rising influence of the Latino population in the United States, Federico Subervi-Velez has put together this edited volume, examining various aspects of the Latino and media landscape, including media coverage in English- and Spanish-language media, campaigns, and survey research.