Latino Participation in America: Associational and Political Roles

Abstract

Using data from the Latino National Political Survey, this article examines the relationship between organizational membership and political participationfor Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans. Although a strong relationship between these two variables had been found for Americans in general by Sidney Verba and Norman Nie in their classic 1972 study Participation in America, the Latino National Political Survey allowsfor an examination of this relationshipforLatinosfor thefirst time. Based on this analysis, the article concludes that, as Verba and Niefoundfor otherAmericans, organizational membership has a strong impact on Latino political participation, especially among Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, who generally exhibit very low rates of political participation. The article calls for strengthening Latino membership organizations and encourages non-Latino membership organizations to reach out to Latinos as one way of increasing Latino political participation rates.