This book argues that Latino representation in US legislative institutions is shaped not only by demographics but by legislative institutional design, as well as elite-driven methods, features of the electoral system, and the increasing mainstreaming of Latinos in American society. The election of Latino legislators in the United States is thus complex and varied. This book provides evidence on how successful Latinos have been in winning state legislative and congressional districts in whi...

Shifting Allegiances provides a comprehensive analysis of the increasing presence and influence of Latino Republicans in Congress and state legislatures. Contrary to past assumptions, this Element reveals that Latino Republicans are a diverse group, no longer confined to Cuban Americans in South Florida. By examining election data and candidate characteristics since 2018, the authors uncover the factors contributing to the success of Latino Republicans, including district demographics, con...

John Engler, former Governor of Michigan, once claimed that redistricting is one of the purest actions a legislative body can take. Academicians and political leaders alike, however, have regularly debated the ideal way by to redistrict national and state legislatures. Rather than being the pure process that Governor Engler envisioned, redistricting has led to repeated court battles waged on such traditional democratic values as one person, one vote, and minority rights. Instead of being a...

Following the acclaimed Uncle Sam and Us and the influential Does North America Exist? Stephen Clarkson — the preeminent analyst of North America's political economy — and Matto Mildenberger turn continental scholarship on its head by showing how Canada and Mexico contribute to the United States' wealth, security, and global power.This provocative work documents how Canada and Mexico offer the United States open markets for its investments and exports, massive flo...

Sometime in April 2014, somewhere in a hospital in California, a Latino child tipped the demographic scales as Latinos displaced non-Hispanic whites as the largest racial/ethnic group in the state. So, one-hundred-sixty-six years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought the Mexican province of Alta California into the United States, Latinos once again became the largest population in the state. Surprised? Texas will make the same transition sometime before 2020.When that happe...

The aggressive exploitation of labor on both sides of the US-Mexico border has become a prominent feature of capitalism in North America. Kids in cages, violent ICE raids, and anti-immigrant racist rhetoric characterize our political reality and are everyday shaping how people intersect at the US-Mexico border. As activist-scholar Justin Akers Chacón carefully demonstrates, however, this vicious model of capitalist transnationalization has also created its own grave-diggers.Contemp...

When Mexico's authoritarian Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) was defeated in the 2000 presidential election after seventy-one years of uninterrupted rule, many analysts believed the party would inevitably splinter and collapse. An authoritarian party without control over government resources and without a strong national executive creates both opportunity and incentive for ambitious politicians to leave the party and join a separate faction. To the surprise of many, however, the...

The international trade negotiations that were launched throughout Latin America in the 1990s created significant challenges for developing countries because of their complexity. In order to make informed decisions and successfully legitimize negotiating positions, governments and stakeholders required research, evidence and data from knowledgeable sources such as local technicians and academics.This book provides empirical-based analyses on the role of this research in the policym...

The fourth edition of this widely-used textbook introduces students to what it means to be a Latino American culturally and politically at a time of unprecedented challenges for America’s diverse and fastest-growing ethnic group. Garcia and Sanchez provide an in-depth examination of the individual communities that comprise the Latino culture, and how those bonds affect political development and decisions. With a look at voting, immigration, political engagement, and the critical public pol...

In 2004, the United States, five Central American countries, and the Dominican Republic signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), signaling the region’s commitment to a neoliberal economic model. For many, however, neoliberalism had lost its luster as the new century dawned, and resistance movements began to gather force. Contesting Trade in Central America is the first book-length study of the debate over CAFTA, tracing the agreement’s drafting, its passage, and i...

This book analyzes the international relations of Mexico and the two most important sub-state governments of the United States, California and Texas. It explains why and how these two states conduct their international relations (IR) with Mexico and the world, and how national authorities and local governments coordinate in the definition and implementation of their international policies. Expert contributors from across the Americas offer a historical and current analysis, exploring which...

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781003324249**, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.**This book accounts for and analyses the latest developments in Latin American presidential democracies, with a special focus on political institutions.The stellar line-up of renowned scholars of Latin American politics and inst...