“Ethnic Minorities have achieved total equality within the electoral system and are thus able to determine their societal status the same way as citizens of European descent.”

Ethnic Minorities in the U .S . Electoral System

Introduction

Ethnicity has been an especially salient and persistent source of political and social identification and motivation since the late 1960s Given the popularity of various assimilationist predictions , this phenomenon has proven to be both surprising and significant , influencing political attitudes , processes , and policies

Oftentimes , ethnic interests supplement and overshadow some of the traditional sources of political identification . While ethnic groups serve as focal points for mobilizing segments of the public on political matters , the commonly accepted notions of class or national

br identification as predominant sources of political attitudes and conduct on domestic and foreign policy issues are partially challenged

Politically relevant behavior , especially on domestic issues , is based on interests increasingly defined in economic terms , not by the primordial ties of language , religion , tribe , or national origin . This notion implicitly supports the assimilationist model . The movement away from ethnic identifications accompanies modernization , and objective that is , economic interests in the process become paramount . Ethnicity in the electoral system is deemed replaceable by more rationally defined concerns . The strain toward assimilation is deemed virtually irresistible . This article evaluates and broadens the statement Ethnic Minorities have achieved system and are thus able to determine their societal status the same way as citizens of European descent

Ethnic Minorities in the U .S . Electoral System

Considering the very large number of elected offices in the United States , the results have been spectacular : by the beginning of the 1990s , when black Americans made up 12 .4 percent and Latino Americans 8 percent of the percent respectively of the Additionally , the change is more dramatic when measured in absolute terms with 500 in the early 1970s to over 6 ,800 by 1988 , and it has been most remarkable of all at the level of city government and state legislature .Ethnic Minorities and Voting Rights

During the 1982 , the basis for minority groups ' vote dilution was strengthened by the time Congress amended the Voting Rights Act to codify the guidelines for establishing a racial vote dilution case (Davidson 1992 . The revised Act eliminated the need to show an intent to discriminate . Under the Act , the issue was whether , under the minimized or canceled out ' The 1982 amendments substantially clarified the shape of a racial group claim . Despite the fact that significant questions remained , the statute lay the groundwork for expanded voting rights claims for racial groups

Considering voting preferences , ethnic minorities have traditionally supported more progressive candidates and parties with more egalitarian platforms . These political preferences follow quite logically from the collective self-interest of these groups in abandoning the bottom of the social pyramid and finding avenues of economic and social mobility (Parenti 1967

Most Hispanic groups in the U .S . presently follow a similar pattern According to Nelson and Tienda (1984 , both Mexican-American and Puerto Rican voters tend to lean strongly toward the Democratic Party and support the more progressive candidates as a reflection of their socioeconomic situation . In contrast to other major Hispanic groups the Cuban...