ABSTRACT
Recent research on Latino political mobilization shows how subgroups have combined the expressive and instrumental aspects of ethnicity to participate in the political process and to achieve political representation (de la Garza et al. 1996; Cruz 1998). There is also evidence that in areas of old settlement some Latino groups have relied on “self-help, institutional development, and entrepreneurship (legal and illegal) to generate political capital, sustain community resources, and promote individual well-being” (Padilla 1993). This notwithstanding, a feature of Latino political development that persists in many localities is a low level of electoral participation and weak political clout. This is true both in established communities and in areas of relatively new but strong settlement (Falcón 1992; Sullivan 1993; Goris and Pedraza 1994).
