THE AWAKENING OF AN UNPREPARED POLITICAL FORCE IN THE U.S.

Abstract

The current literature on Hispanic public opinion and voting behavior identify racial identification and variations within the Hispanic community as essential to the understanding of Hispanic policy inclinations and vote choice. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the weight of racial identification and the Hispanic community diversification across a set of salient and general policy issues. A series of hypotheses were tested in order to determine the existence of a relationship between racial differences, Hispanic demographic traits, policy preferences, and political orientations during the 2012 election. This study utilized SETUPS, a statistical analysis program, to analyze the 2012 American National Election Studies (ANES) survey of the American electorate. The examination reveals how certain policy issues and demographic trends deviate Hispanic public opinion from that of other races and even from within Hispanic widespread beliefs. Despite the growth in Hispanic political awareness, it still remains a vulnerable and unprepared political force in the US.