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Fernandog
Fernandog
Fernando M Gomez
11 November 2022
Introduction
In today’s world, political transnationalism has become a much larger part of people’s
everyday lives. This has been largely influenced by the increase in access to technology.
Information about voting schedules and potential candidates are more accessible than ever before
with millions of people having access to voting alternatives and online information desks that
can answer all their questions. However, despite this technological advancement and the growing
population of Hispanic communities, this minority group has the lowest percentage of
participation in politics, especially in voting (Zorrilla-Velazquez et al. 3). This paper aims to
demonstrate why and when certain demographics are more or less likely to participate in
elections in the US. Furthermore, it will argue that to increase voter turnout among minority
populations, certain methods of contact must be used to mobilize Mexican immigrants present in
Hispanic American communities, including the representation of interests and offering voting
alternatives.
Political Transnationalism
There are many factors that play into the reasons why certain ethnic demographics,
namely Hispanic immigrants, are more or less likely to participate in politics, specifically in
voting. One of these main reasons is that earlier generations are less likely to have political
efficacy than later immigrant generations because later immigrant generations have more
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awareness and access to informational resources related to political engagement. Qi, Dan, and
Sylvia Gonzalez analyzed their findings and arrived at this conclusion where they found a trend
that minority groups tended to vote in larger populations when they are a later generation of
immigrants. Their findings showed that there were differences across racial groups, including
African Americans, Asians, and Latinos, but there was a special focus in voter turnout in relation
to immigration status in terms of generation. “As [minority group members] move away from
their immigration generation,” Qi and Gonzalez claim, “they should be more likely to turnout
than their first-generation ancestors as they become culturally and politically assimilated” (227).
This is because, as Qi and Gonzalez delineate, first-generation immigrants have other priorities
besides becoming politically involved, and that is assimilating and integrating into “American
society” in a cultural, social, and economic sense (227). Meanwhile, historical trends of later
showing increased voter turnout in later generations. Because later immigrant generations are
more familiar with the political system, they are more competent to vote. The idea of
immigration status and generation connects to the idea of political transnationalism. Qi and
Gonzalez assert that newer generations have more access to information and voting opportunities
because they are more “integrated” and “assimilated” with the “American society”.
Another reason Hispanic immigrants are less likely to participate in U.S. politics is the
the lack of information, mentioned previously. Fording, Richard C. and Sanford F. Schram used
Donald Trump’s campaign statement as evidence of this theory. Fording and Schram noticed that
Donald Trump’s campaign statement, “Make America Great Again” attracted unprecedented
levels of support from “low-information voters” (670). “Using emotional appeals to people’s
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racial and ethnic anxieties,” Fording and Schram point out, “Trump was able to attract low-
information […] voters” (672). This is additional validation that immigrant representation in
political activities is small compared to other ethnic groups because their support is misinformed
and misled. Such that specific statements made by presidents who have certain clout are capable
of establishing a seemingly strong authority over people’s minds, coercing people’s votes in their
favor (Fording and Schram 672). In addition to lack of access to basic resources for engagement
in political activities, minority groups like Mexican immigrants are constantly forced to reason
and rely on emotions encouraged by candidates, who they subsequently vote for without seeing
no other choice or candidate to vote for - even so far to not vote at all.
Representation of Interests
One main way in which voting turnout can be increased is through the representation of
minority’s interests. In their article, Jeffrey A. Fine and James M. Avery consider Latino
representation in relation to the Latino population size. They found that geographic
constituencies and electoral constituencies in other minority groups are comparable to the
House is strongest in districts where Latinos make up a significantly large portion of the district,”
Fine and Avery assert, concluding that Latino populations, which are composed of Hispanic
immigrants, are significantly underrepresented (1184). As there is less electoral strength from the
representation of Latino interests in the U.S. Senate is the must in increasing minority population
voter support and turnout. This relates to how Mexican immigrants have little to no access to
specific and necessary information, which significantly contributes to their voting behaviors and
Furthermore, there is more support for the candidate that will cause the more benefit for
the minority group population regardless of the candidate’s race. In his article, Bernard L. Fraga
discovered that candidates race, rather than increasing the candidates support on behalf of
minority groups depending on race, made no difference as opposed to the size of the population
of a minority group increasing and leading to more support for a candidate representing their
interests. “For both African Americans and Latinos” Fraga claims, “turnout is greater when each
group makes up a larger portion of the electorate, regardless of candidate race. Thus, the
seekers and turnout miss the principal role of jurisdiction racial/ethnic composition” (98).
Considering that the theory of race and participation engulf the idea that minority voters will
support a candidate that is of the same race, according to Fraga, candidate’s race is not as
impactful as it is believed. Not only that, but district composition, which is also discussed by
Fraga, underscores the importance of other factors that should be considered aside from race
and/or ethnicity of the minority population and the candidate running for office. Not only does
this demonstrate minority voting based on how each individual voter will vote, but also how the
minority groups as a whole contribute to the overall support of specific candidates, leading to the
shift and movement in political schedules in the United States and voter turnout in Hispanic
minority.
minority candidates, there is clarification needed in terms of how a candidate’s race impacts
minority support by related race. Eric Gonzalez Juenke considers this by focusing on the
candidate’s perspective: self-selection. As Juenke discusses in his article, the evidence he found
corroborates the idea that the belief that candidate’s race does not impact voter turnout but is
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certain groups such as Latinos, a growing minority group. According to Juenke, it all starts with
the self-selection of the minority candidate to be involved and participate in politics for the factor
of candidate representation of minority groups to be considered in the first place. Rather than
jumping ahead to individual voter’s options and predictions of having them vote or not for a
minority candidate, as stated by Juenke, it is also important to recognize the candidate’s decision
to run as it is fostered by the opportunity to be elected. “It is clear that Latino district populations
drives Latino candidate emergence” Juenke points out. “Conversely, Latino candidates are rarely
on ballots in low Latino population districts” (597). Similar to how Fraga’s experiment and
results unveiled a difference between minority groups voting based on candidate’s race, which
there was significant difference on behalf of Latinos or Hispanic immigrants, there is a common
ground in that the representation of minority groups in politics is much more than simply
representing them through their inclusion in politics. Such that their interests are what are to be
considered and applied in the political realm to advance appropriate changes and
minority can be changed through better representation of interests rather than only race.
Minority Mobilization
Mexican decent have such a little voice in government. However, using these same technology
resources as they become more accessible to a variety of voters, we can consider the use of
encourage political engagement. In their paper, Stevens and Bishin talk about mobilization of
minority voter turnout through effective contact techniques by candidates and parties. Stevens
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and Bishin delve into the topic of voter turnout in ethnic and racial minorities as affected by the
amount of influence the parties may play in either as compared to whites or Americans. Talking
about Minority participation and mobilization, Stevens and Bishins describe voter turnout
differences between whites and minorities including Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and more. They
introduce the alternative for identifying group mobilization besides race including or factoring in
socioeconomic status and party identification. This is closely related to idea of an emphasis on
candidates addressing specific interest of minority groups rather than simply establishing
Language proficiency is also a strong influencer. In their article, De La Garza and Yang
discuss their findings and results of their theory that language proficiency has a strong influence
on political participation. Registration, voting and non-electoral campaign related activities are
discussed in how they are presented to English and Spanish-dominant Latinos as well as
bilingual people. Language proficiency grouping is analyzed. This shows how the dominant
language can and should be used when informing certain groups in the United States about
political topics, such as those analyzed in this article. This includes how and where to register
and non-electoral campaigns that encourage political participation. It is noteworthy that high
levels of political involvement are in populations that are spoken to in their dominant language.
That is, English-dominant Latinos participate more when political topics are talked about in
English, but both also participate in such activities when they are informed in their dominant
language. This translates clearly to the topic of how Mexican immigrants may be misinformed
because political topics are not talked in the dominant language in their areas and therefore are
less informed or have less of an idea of what political engagement and activities, they can
participate in.
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States in this paper. Using a transnational theory perspective, political activities and involvement
alternatives for Mexican immigrants are explained. It considers the background of Mexican
diaspora along with their historical, social, and political background that has led to their idea of
the external vote and its impact on the United States’ political schedules. Furthermore, it
considers in-person and internet voting as possible solutions for Mexican immigrants and
communities in the United States to learn and use. This contributes to the main idea of the factors
behind the voting turnout behaviors of Mexican communities, whose influence is stronger than
ever before in today’s world. In fact, this article uses data from 2006 to the present – it considers
politics in the United States. Voting abroad is a growing phenomenon and this article addresses it
Conclusion
As we can see, in a growing transnational setting, there are factors involved in the
reasons for low voter turnout. This includes the low accessibility of information, especially for
earlier immigrant generations, and the subsequent voting vulnerability with which candidates
integrate into their campaigns to lash out on voting minorities who are left with no other choice
but to support a candidate that is not necessarily representing them or not voting at all. With a
rising Hispanic minority population, minority mobilization must be taken into effect through
effective methods of contact including a just representation of interests and the use of
party goals responsibly and offering voting alternatives. Representation of interests encourages a
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more democratic setting, especially for the earlier and later generations of Mexican immigrants,
who comprise the largest growing population in the United States, and increased minority
mobilization engages voters from Hispanic minority populations who have a hard time finding or
Works Cited:
De La Garza, Rodolfo O., and Alan Yang. “Language Dominance, Bilingualism, and Latino
Political Participation in the United States.” Political Science Quarterly, vol. 130, no. 4,
Fine, Jeffrey A., and James M. Avery. “Senate Responsiveness to Minority Constituencies:
https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12093.
Fording, Richard C., and Sanford F. Schram. “The Cognitive and Emotional Sources of Trump
Support: The Case of Low-Information Voters.” New Political Science, vol. 39, no. 4,
Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science, vol. 60, no. 1, 2015, pp. 97–122.,
https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12172.
Juenke, Eric Gonzalez. “Ignorance Is Bias: The Effect of Latino Losers on Models of Latino
Representation.” American Journal of Political Science, vol. 58, no. 3, 2014, pp. 593–603.,
https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12092.
Qi, Dan, and Sylvia Gonzalez. “Immigrant Status, Race, and Voter Turnout in the American
Mass Public.” Social Science Quarterly, vol. 103, no. 1, 2021, pp. 225–240.,
https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13110.
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Stevens, Daniel, and Benjamin G. Bishin. “Getting out the Vote: Minority Mobilization in a
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-010-9128-7.
Mexican Communities in the United States and the External Vote.” The International
Journal of Interdisciplinary Civic and Political Studies, vol. 16, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1–15.,
https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-0071/cgp/v16i01/1-15.