Abstract
The majority of Latinos in the United States identify with the Democratic Party, a tendency with broad political implications as Latinos become an increasingly large segment of the population. Little research, however, has delved into the origins of this preference. In this research, we contrast two explanations for Latinos’ Democratic proclivities: an instrumental explanation grounded in ideological policy preferences and an expressive identity account based on the defense of Latino identity and status. In analysis of data from two large national datasets, the 2012 Latino Immigrant National Election Study and American National Election Study focused on Latino immigrants and citizens respectively, we find strong support for the expressive identity explanation. Hispanic and partisan identities have converged among Latinos in the United States to create a large number of Latino Democrats regardless of citizenship status. Those who identify strongly as Latinos and see pervasive discrimination against Latinos are the strongest Democrats, a process that further intensified over the course of the 2012 election. A strong partisan preference increased political campaign activity, though this activity level was modest overall. Relatively few Latinos had worked on a campaign or given money to a candidate; somewhat larger numbers had tried to convince others about a candidate or worn a button or displayed a sticker. Finally, some support was evident for an instrumental account. Latino support for government-provided health insurance in 2012 consistently increased support for the Democratic Party.
- Copyright © 2016 by Russell Sage Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Reproduction by the United States Government in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose. We extend our thanks to Jay McCann, Michael Correa-Jones, David Sears, and members of the RSF LINES working group for helpful comments on an earlier version of this project. Direct correspondence to: Leonie Huddy at leonie.huddy{at}sunysb.edu, Department of Political Science, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794; Lilliana Mason at lmason{at}umd.edu, 3140 Tydings Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742; and S. Nechama Horwitz at snhorwitz{at}gmail.com, Department of Political Science, Stony Brook University, Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, 7th Floor, Stony Brook, NY 11794.
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