Latino Politics
Politics 296B
Fall 1995

Professor Louis DeSipio
Phone: 333-4711 4:00 - 5:30
email: desipio@uiuc.edu

Course Overview

This course examines the role of Latino electorates in shaping state and national politics. After a review of the political histories of the various Latino national origin groups, we will discuss public policy issues that concern Latinos, the successes and failures of Latino empowerment strategies, and the electoral impact of Latino votes. The class will primarily focus on the three largest Latino national-origin groups, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans, and the degree to which their political agendas are likely to merge or diverge over the coming years. The question that we will return to throughout the course is the degree to which it is accurate to speak of a Latino politics and a Latino community.

Required Readings

de la Garza, Rodolfo O.; Louis DeSipio; F. Chris García; John A. García; and Angelo Falcón. 1992. Latino Voices: Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban Perspectives on American Politics. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

de la Garza, Rodolfo O.; Martha Menchaca; and Louis DeSipio. 1993. Barrio Ballots: Latino Politics in the 1990 Elections. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Grenier, Guillermo, and Alex Stepik III. 1992. Miami Now! Immigration, Ethnicity, and Social Change. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

Padilla, Felix. 1985. Latino Ethnic Consciousness: The Case of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans in Chicago. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

Sánchez, George J. 1993. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Suro, Roberto. 1994. Remembering the American Dream: Hispanic Immigration and National Policy. New York: Twentieth Century Fund Press.

We will also use several chapters and articles from other books. These are indicated with a ** in the syllabus. You may purchase these readings packet from Notes and Quotes, 502 East John St., Champaign.

All required books and books with chapters in the reading packet are on reserve at the Undergraduate Library.

Course Requirements

There will be a mid-term exam, a final exam, and a choice of a 12-15 page research paper or two 5-7 page book reviews.

The topic for the research paper is open, but must be discussed in advance with me. The only two limitations are that the topic must broadly address a political topic and it must involve either Latinos as a whole or one or more of the Latino national origin groups. To assure that we agree on the topic, students must submit a brief description of their intended research by October 19. It is to everyone's advantage to begin thinking of a topic before this deadline and to discuss it with me. The research paper will be due on November 28. Students doing research papers will also be asked to make a brief presentation on their research to the class.

For students preferring to do the two book reviews, I will provide a list of possible books and a description of how to write a book review (for now, it is important to recognize that a book review is not a book report!). Some of these books that I will suggest are not available in the UIUC libraries, so please do not put off selecting a book until the last minute. Of the two reviews, one must discuss a book about the political history of Latinos or one of the Latino national origin groups and the other must look at contemporary Latino political activities or a public policy debate involving Latinos. You may suggest a book that is not on the list, but please clear it with me in advance. The first of these reviews is due on October 26 and the second on November 30.

The mid-term will constitute 20 percent of the final grade, the final 35 percent, and the research paper or book reviews 35 percent. The final ten percent of your grade will be based on class participation. Thoughtful comments and ideas and active participation will be rewarded.

Tentative Schedule

August 24--Introduction

August 29-August 31 and September 5-- Why do we study Latino politics? Ethnicity as a force for political organization and social change.

Readings:

Padilla, entire book.

September 7, September 12-14, and September 19-21--The roots of the Latino political experience: Mexican Americans in the Southwest (1848-1975).

Readings:

Sánchez, entire book

** Griswold del Castillo, Richard. 1990. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict, chapters 3 and 5.

** Montejano, David. 1987. Anglos and Mexican in The Making of Texas, 1836-1986, chapters 4 and 5.

** Gomez-Quinones, Juan. 1990. Chicano Politics: Reality and Promise, 1940-1990, chapter 3.

September 26-28--Puerto Ricans and the New York political environment, the early years (1917-1975).

Readings:

** Sánchez-Korrol, Virginia. 1983 [1994]. From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City, chapters 5 and 6.

** Jennings, James and Monte Rivera. 1984. Puerto Rican Politics in Urban America, chapters 1 and 2.

October 3-5--Cuban Americans, From Exiles to Ethnics (1959 and before to 1980).

Readings:

Grenier and Stepik, chapters 1, 2, 5, and 7.

** Portes, Alejandro, and Alex Stepik. 1993. City on the Edge: The Transformation of Miami, Chapters 2, 5, and 6 (read 5 and 6 before 2).

** Torres, Maria de los Angeles. 1988. "From Exiles to Minorities: The Politics of Cuban Americans." In F. Chris Garcia, ed. Latinos and the Political System.

October 10--Review

October 12--Midterm

October 17-19--The external roots of change. Immigration and the expansion of the Latino communities.

Readings:

Suro, chapters 1-9.

Latino Voices, chapters 1, 2, and 9.

Grenier and Stepik, chapter 4.

** de la Garza, Rodolfo O. 1992. "Latino Politics: A Futuristic View." National Political Science Review, V. 3.

October 24-26, October 31-November 2, and November 7--Latinos and electoral politics.

Assigned readings:

de la Garza, Menchaca, and DeSipio, all.

Latino Voices, chapters 4, 5, 6, and 8.

Grenier and Stepik, chapters 8 and 9.

** Pardo, Mary. 1990. "Mexican American Grassroots Activists: 'Mothers of East Los Angeles.'" Frontiers, V. 11 #1.

** de la Garza, Rodolfo and Louis DeSipio. "Save the Baby, Change the Bathwater, and Scrub the Tub: Latino Electoral Participation After Seventeen Years of Voting Rights Act Coverage." Texas Law Review, V. 71 #7.

** Hero, Rodney. 1995. "Latinos and Substantive Representation in the United States House of Representatives: Direct, Indirect, or Nonexistent." American Journal of Political Science 39 (3) (August).

November 9, November 14-16, and November 21--Public policy concerns of the Latino communities

Readings:

Suro, chapters 10 - 13.

Latino Voices, chapters 7 and 10.

Grenier and Stepik, chapters 3 and 6.

Text of California Proposition 187 (1994) [distributed in class].

** Congressional Hispanic Caucus. 1994. Fact and Fiction: Immigrants to the US.

** Pachon, Harry P., and Louis DeSipio. 1994. New Americans by Choice: Political Perspectives of Latino Immigrants, chapter 1.

** Schmidt, Ronald J. "Language Education Policy and the Latino Quest for Empowerment: Exploring the Linkages." In Roberto E. Villareal and Norma G. Hernandez, eds. Latinos and Political Coalitions.

** Yzaguirre, Raul. 1991. "Keys to Hispanic Empowerment." In Roberto E. Villareal and Norma G. Hernandez, eds. Latinos and Political Coalitions.

November 28--Presentations from students writing research papers.

November 30 and December 5--The "other" Latinos--newly emerging political agendas among other immigrants who trace their ancestry to Latin America and the Caribbean.

No Readings

December 7--Review and conclusions.