ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the numerical and socioeconomic realities do not bode well for each group's individual success in American politics. The fact that all American racial and ethnic minority groups have not been treated according to the rhetoric of the nation's founding principles has resulted in differences in these groups' contemporary political status based on differential resources, histories of political activism, and levels of access to political participation. Beyond the numbers and age structure, socioeconomic status has been found to be important in determining levels of participation. The determination of whether a jurisdiction is engaging in minority vote dilution requires an examination of the "totality of circumstances". Cumulative voting, a technique used until recently by the state of Illinois in its legislative races, is a mechanism that benefits numerical minorities, whether they are blacks, Latinos, Asians, Indians, women, Democrats, or Republicans.
