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Latino-majority congressional districts are far more likely to elect Latino representatives to Congress than majority-white districts. However, not all majority-Latino districts do so. This paper addresses this question, and it investigates how the level of influence of political parties and interest groups in majority-Latino districts substantially shapes Latino representation to the US House of Representatives. I rely on five case studies and a dataset of candidates to open congressional races with a Latino population plurality from 2004 to 2014. The evidence indicates that groups and political networks are critical for Latina/o candidate recruitment, the organization of resources in a congressional district, the deployment of campaign resources on behalf of certain candidates, and the eventual success of Latina/o candidates. The findings suggest that Latino descriptive and substantive representation are shaped by the wielding influence of political parties and interest groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at New Mexico history and politics, focusing on the impact of statehood on the political participation and representation of Hispanics in the state from the territorial period in the second half of the 19th century until the present. Topics include 19th-century disputes over the costs and benefits of becoming a state and the share of Hispanics among the state's governors and state and federal legislators from statehood in 1912 to the present.

Using an original data set of roll call votes and bill co-sponsorships across three high salience issues (immigration, labor, and education) and one low salience issue (social security), this article analyzes the 111th Congress to assess representation of Latinos. Partisanship is the key determinant in member behavior on voting, not the member’s race or ethnicity or constituent demographics. For bill co-sponsorships, Latino members are only more active on high salience issue areas compared with non-Latino members. Increases in Latino population do not influence behavior. The results also indicate that African American and Democratic legislators offer Latinos considerable amounts of substantive representation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective While most research on minority representation in Congress finds that the African-American constituency size influences representation of the group's interests, most recent studies examining Latinos find no such relationship. We argue that the failure to find a relationship stems from the focus of prior research on the proportion of the Latino population in the total geographic constituency rather than the proportion of Latinos in the electoral constituency, what we term 'Latino electoral strength' (LES). Methods Using data on Latino turnout at the state level, we examine the effect of LES on representation of Latino interests in the U.S. Senate. We use ordinary least squares (OLS) regression that accounts for the time serial, cross-sectional (TSCS) nature of our data. Results Consistent with other studies, we find no influence of Latino population size on Latino representation. However, LES has a significant, negative effect on Latino representation. Conclusions Our results suggest that greater LES leads to worse representation of their interests, and that this relationship increases as LES grows. This is consistent with existing studies of racial threat theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 113th Congress has a record number of racial and ethnic minorities serving on Capitol Hill. Using the 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), we examine what this increased descriptive representation of racial minorities means for legislative responsiveness and citizen-representative communication in the U.S. House. We argue that descriptive representation will improve the constituent-legislator relationship across racial groups, but that shared race should matter more for blacks and Latinos as racial minorities unaccustomed to legislative responsiveness. Our findings follow these expectations and suggest that the presence or lack of descriptive representation is an integral part of how citizens experience representation in the U.S. House. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To determine the role of linked fate, cultural factors, and experiences with discrimination on support for descriptive representation among Latinos. Methods Utilizing data from the Latino National Survey (2006) and ordered logistic regression this article analyzes the impact of Latino-linked fate, cultural factors, and personal and group experiences with discrimination on desire for Latino representation. Results A higher sense of attachment to Latino-linked fate and Spanish results in a greater desire for Latino representatives. Similarly, Latinos who believed Latinos suffered from group discrimination were in greater support of Latino representatives. Conclusions By examining descriptive representation from the perspective of how Latinos feel, this investigation improves our understanding of how attachment to a linked fate, language, and experiences with discrimination work to influence support for Latino representatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use state legislator ideology estimates (standardized W-nominate values) to examine whether Latino and African American legislator ideological differences can be explained away by traditional constituency characteristics like partisanship and demographics. We find instead that both Black and Latino legislators are unique 'types.' Our evidence supports the theoretical presumption that there is a minority dimension to legislative voting and that it is uniquely personified by minority officeholders. White, Black, Latino, Democrat, and Republican representatives are all examined for responsiveness to different partisan and racial/ethnic populations. The dataset includes all 50 state legislatures from the 1999-2000 legislative sessions, including information from the U.S. Census, NALEO, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Gerald Wright's Representation in the American Legislature Project, and CQ Press's Almanac of State Legislative Elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The news media often serves as an intermediary between elected officials and constituents, informing voters of the ways in which they are being represented. While the media plays a critical role in allowing representatives to communicate with constituents, previous research indicates that coverage of women and minority members of Congress may be unfavorable. Contrary to previous research, I find that being either a woman or a minority alone does not negatively impact coverage. However, faced with the “double barrier” of race and gender, minority congresswomen often receive more negative and less frequent media coverage than all other representatives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines dynamics related to the sponsorship of Latino interest bills in Congress. I focus particularly on the influence of Latino representatives. I employ an original data set that includes all bills sponsored during the 109th Congress (2005-2006) and use negative binomial and standard OLS regression techniques to test hypotheses that Latino representatives are more active sponsors of Latino interest bills than non-Latino representatives. Findings demonstrate that both the size of Latino constituencies in congressional districts and descriptive representation significantly and positively predict Latino interest bill sponsorship. Descriptive representation appears particularly influential regarding sponsorship of bills that deal with Latino concerns explicitly. The analysis establishes that descriptive representation enhances the substantive representation of Latinos in bill sponsorship. An important aspect of this phenomenon is a legislative style on the part of Latino representatives that more openly, actively, and specifically embraces the interests of Latino constituencies in policy proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political relations between racial/ethnic groups in America have (a) been commonly examined in terms of the degree of "cooperation" or "conflict" and (b) have most frequently been studied in the arena of urban politics; this has been especially so in the case of Hispanics/Latinos and African Americans. This article represents the first effort to pose and to systematically assess the question of inter--minority group relations in Congress by examining roll call behavior in the U.S. House of Representatives. Using Black and Latino interest group ratings and associated roll call votes from the 104th to 108th Congresses as indicators of Black and Latino interests, we show that Black representatives have voting records very supportive of the most salient concerns of Latinos and that Latino representatives have voting records at least modestly supportive of the most salient concerns of Blacks. At minimum, the findings suggest that Black and Latino representatives support the "other" group at the same level (or higher) than party affiliation alone would suggest and also indicate an absence of conflict that is found in local-level studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do Latino representatives enhance or "enlarge" Latino representation (Walsh 2002)? I examined the content of websites posted by members of the 110th Congress and found that the websites of Latino representatives are not more accessible to Spanish-speaking users than the websites of non-Latino representatives, nor are the sites more likely to exhibit pro-immigrant positions or offer immigration assistance. The websites of Latino representatives are, however, more likely to present Latino perspectives. Latino representatives enhance Latino representation in this forum by enlarging or broadening the presence of a Latino voice in policy discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under what conditions are Latino candidates elected to Congress and state legislatures? How much does the ethnic composition of a district affect the chances that a Latino candidate will be elected in that district? Latinos constitute the single largest minority group in the country, one that is growing at an exponential rate. Post-2000 redistricting created more majority-Latino districts, but the absolute number of Latino legislators did not increase correspondingly. My analysis demonstrates that states with citizen legislatures and with higher legislative turnover rates are more conducive to the election of Latino candidates than are other states. Institutional and demographic differences among states affect the states' Latino descriptive representation. Namely, the institutional design of the legislature matters in terms of electoral responsiveness, with Arizona and California being the most responsive bodies and New York and the U.S. House the least responsive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether descriptive representation, in terms of race, ethnicity and gender, influences substantive representation among black, Hispanic, and female legislators. Using the 2001 Texas state legislature's lower house, we investigate the demographics of the districts represented by minorities, finding that all but one of the representatives of color was elected from majority-minority districts. Districts represented by blacks and Latinos were found to be poorer than those represented by Anglo legislators. As a result, we expected legislators of color to introduce legislation that is more progressive than their Anglo counterparts. We also employ the framework of intersectionality to determine whether race/ethnicity, gender, and party interact to affect the introduction of progressive legislation. Using a newly developed substantive representation index, we find that minority legislators and female-Anglo Democrats sponsor bills that are more progressive based on their sheer numbers in the legislature, when compared to all other groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we examine the patterns of gendered representation and related legislative advocacy within Latino delegations to four state legislatures in the Southwest. Most agree that one of the most significant changes in American politics in the post-civil rights era is the increasing election of women and people of color, but there is less agreement about the magnitude, consistency, and impact of this representation. Moreover, little is known about how these patterns vary by state. First, we examine the patterns of gendered and ethnic election in the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas from 1990-2004. We find considerable variation across these states, relative to both women and Latinos, but the presence of Latinas within the Latino/a delegation has noticeably increased across all the states and at a rate that outpaces the increase in women in the legislatures overall. Second, using original survey data supplemented with elite interviews, we explore perceived differences in the representational priorities and related behaviors, issue agendas, and policy successes between Latinas and Latino men. We find a number of similarities but also find distinct differences that reveal Latinas place greater emphasis on representing the interests of multiple minority groups, promoting conflict resolution, and building consensus in both the legislature as a whole and within the Latino caucus. Latinas also are more likely than Latino men to introduce and successfully pass legislation that addresses the issue agenda held by both Latina and Latino legislators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the focus and style role orientations of African American and Hispanic legislators. Congressional Black Caucus; Congressional Hispanic Caucus; Legislative role perceptions.