The research presented here has three major purposes. The first is to explain how
political institutions and policy outputs can change in the presence of a growing minority
population when the preferences of these minorities differ from those of the majority. I
show how representation in all three branches of government can lead to these changes,
specifically in the local legislature and local bureaucracy. Secondly, I demonstrate the
relationship between local legislative representation of Latino minority populations to
substantive policy outcomes that favor this minority group, and explain how variable
electoral institutions influence this relationship. The third general purpose of this
research is to make the argument that the study of minority politics need not take place
within a theoretical vacuum. That is, I use theories of minority group behavior (as
opposed to Latino group behavior), and relevant empirical tests, to inform mainstream
democratic theory. What democratic theory is missing, I argue, is the ability to fully
explain and predict changes in institutions, policy, and policy outputs in a dynamic
preference environment. Examining minority politics over time helps fill this void.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4228 |
| Date | 30 October 2006 |
| Creators | Juenke, Eric |
| Contributors | Meier, Kenneth J. |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | 586722 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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