Ƶ

An open access publication of the Ƶ
Fall 2012

Latino Public Opinion & Realigning the American Electorate

Author
Gary M. Segura
View PDF
Abstract

The growth and significance of the Latino electorate raises important questions about its preferences, identity, and impact. In this essay, I explore three facets of Latino public opinion and offer thoughts regarding their political impact. First, I demonstrate that Latino core beliefs about the role of government are progressive. Second, I explore the ways in which national origin, nativity, and generational status reveal important differences in how Latinos think about and participate in politics; I caution against over-interpreting the importance of these differences. Finally, I offer evidence that Latino panethnic identity is sufficiently developed to constitute a political “group.” Given that this segment in the American electorate is increasingly unified and demonstrably left of center, I suggest that the growth of the Latino population and electorate could have substantial electoral and social impact.

GARY M. SEGURA, a Fellow of the American Ƶ since 2010, is Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, where he is also Director of Chicano/a Studies in the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. He is a principal in the polling firm Latino Decisions and a principal investigator for the 2012 American National Election Studies. His publications include Latino Lives in America: Making It Home (2010), “The Future is Ours”: Minority Politics, Political Behavior, and the Multiracial Era of American Politics (with Shaun Bowler, 2011), and Latinos in the New Millennium: An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior, and Policy Preferences (with Luis Fraga et al., 2012).