Thesis advisor: James Hamm / In this thesis I discuss the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) and its unique success as an ethnic interest group. I explain how the group came to be. I then address a number of reasons that scholars give as to why the CANF still exerts so much influence today. These reasons include but are not limited to: government favoritism during the cold war, the group's influence as a voting bloc, and campaign donations to prominent politicians. I discuss each of these theories and conclude that they all contain a grain of truth, yet none of them is significant enough to fully explain the situation. I conclude by finding the situation to be over-determined. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: International Studies Honors Program.