ABSTRACT
In the study of Latino politics, there is one question that remains of great interest to scholars and practitioners alike: what factors influence political participation? Traditional studies of political participation emphasize the importance of socioeconomic status in determining whether individuals will participate in politics (Berelson et al. 1954; Verba and Nie 1972; Wolfinger and Rosenstone 1980; Rosenstone and Hansen 1993; Verba et al. 1995). Focusing on the means of the individual, resource-based explanations hold that education and income drive political participation, as persons with higher levels of schooling and income are more likely to be politically involved. These factors are indeed predictive of Latino political activism— affluent and highly educated Latinos are more likely to participate (e.g. Hero and Campbell 1996; DeSipio 1996; Arvizu and Garcia 1996). Much of the literature on Latino politics also emphasizes the impact of nativity (Verba et al. 1995; DeSipio 1996; Leal 2002; Baretto and Munoz 2003); mobilization (e.g. Rosenstone and Hansen 1993; Shaw et al. 2000; Michelson 2003, 2006), and political context (e.g. Barreto et al. 2004; Bishin et al. 2005).
