LATINOS IN U.S. POLITICS

MWF 10:00 – 10:50 am, ELH 110

Winter 2002

Professor:  Lisa García Bedolla

Office:  SSPB 3283

Phone:  824-9298

Email: lgarciab@uci.edu

Website: orion.oac.uci.edu/~lgarciab

 

Office Hours: MW 11:00 - 12:00 and by appointment

This course looks at the political issues facing the three largest Latino groups in the U.S.—Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans—by examining their histories, voting behavior, nonelectoral participation and policy issues.  It begins with the historical experiences of all three groups, comparing the forces behind each group’s migration and how those processes affect their integration into politics.  It then turns to issues of participation, with an analysis of Latino electoral participation and community activism.  Finally, we look at Latino issues at the national, state and local levels, including the policy issues such as the Voting Rights Act, formal representation, immigration, affirmative action and language policy.

Course Requirements

Class Participation – 15%

Class participation includes your class attendance and your participation in weekly discussions.  This includes coming to discussion sessions prepared and ready to discuss the substantive issues raised in that week’s readings.

Discussion Facilitation – 20%

Over the course of the quarter, you will co-lead the Friday discussion session twice.  Your responsibilities will be to come to class having completed the reading and having prepared a number of questions that you will use to foment discussion among your classmates.  The idea is for you to focus on the aspects of the readings that you believe are most interesting/controversial.  You will sign up for your discussion sessions during the week of Jan. 7-11.

Midterm – 30%

The midterm will be given in class on Wednesday, February 6th.  It will consist of a few short essay questions and one long essay.  The midterm will include material from the lectures, readings and class discussions.

Final – 35%

The final will be held from 10:30-12:30 on Monday, March 19th.  It will have the same structure as the midterm, except that there will be two long essay questions.

Readings

There are two books required for this course, and a small reader.  The books are currently available at the university bookstore.  Both the books and the reader will be available on reserve at the main library. The reader will be available from Mozena publishing and may be purchased during the first three class sessions.  In this syllabus, an asterisk (*) indicates the readings located in the reader.  The required books are:

García, F. Chris. 1997. Pursuing Power: Latinos and the Political System.

Pycior, Julie Leininger. 1997. LBJ and Mexican Americans: The Paradox of Power.

Course Outline

Week 1

1/4       Introduction

Week 2

1/7    What do we mean by Latino? The Social Construction of Race

Readings:  *Part I of Delgado and Stefancic, eds., The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader (pp.1-71); and Skerry, Peter. “E Pluribus Hispanic?” Ch. 1 in Pursuing Power (pp. 16-30)

1/9    What do we know about Latino Politics? Demographics and theory

Readings:  García, F. Chris. “Introduction” from Pursuing Power: Latinos and the Political System (pp. 1-15); García, F. Chris “Input into the Political System: Participation,” in Pursuing Power (pp. 31-43); García, John. “Political Participation: Resources and Involvement among Latinos in the American Political System,” Ch. 2 in Pursuing Power (pp. 44-71)

1/11   Discussion

Week 3

1/14    Latinos and Politics 1848-1950: Conquest, Migration and Initial Mobilization

Readings:  Pycior, Julie. LBJ and Mexican Americans, Part I, Chs. 1-5 (pp. 1-86)

1/16     Latinos 1848-1950, continued

1/18     Discussion

Week 4

1/21     ***No Class – Martin Luther King Holiday***

1/23     Nativism, racism and Latino social construction as a “problem” group

  Readings:  *Part III of Delgado and Stefancic, eds., The Latino/a Condition, (pp. 147-201)

1/25     Discussion

Week 5

1/28     Political History: Viva Kennedy, the Chicano Movement and the Young Lords

  Readings:  Pycior, Julie. LBJ and Mexican Americans, Part II, Chs. 6-11 (pp. 109-234)

1/30     Political History, continued

2/1       Discussion

Week 6

2/4       Political Participation: Electoral Politics and Voting

  Readings:  *DeSipio, Louis. Counting on the Latino Vote, Chs. 1-3 (pp. 1-86)

2/6       Midterm Exam

2/8       Film (TBA) and Discussion

Week 7

2/11   The Political Participation of Latina Women

2/13   Gender and Community Organizing

Readings:  Pardo, Mary. “Mexican-American Women Grassroots Community Activists: The Mothers of East L.A.” Ch. 5 in Pursuing Power (pp. 151-168); Hardy-Fanta. “Latina Women and Politics in Boston,” Ch. 7 in Pursuing Power (pp. 190-207)

2/15   Discussion

Week 8

2/18    ***No Class – Presidents’ Day**

2/20   National-level issues – the Voting Rights Act

Readings: de la Garza and DeSipio. “Save the Baby, Change the Bathwater and Scrub the Tub: Latino Electoral Participation after Twenty Years of Voting Rights Coverage, Ch. 3 in Pursuing Power (pp. 72-126)

2/22   Discussion

Week 9

2/25   National-level issues – Voting rights and majoritarianism

Readings:  *Guinier. 2000. “Making Every Vote Count,” The Nation (pp. 1-4);  *Tushnet. 1994. “Who Cares About Voting Rights?” Boston Review (pp. 1-7); and *Kennedy. 1993. “Lani Guinier’s Constitution.” The American Prospect (pp. 1-12)

2/27   Latinos and Congressional Representation

Readings:  Vigil. “Hispanics in the 103rd Congress: The 1990 Census, Reapportionment, Redistricting and the 1992 Elections,” Ch. 9 in Pursuing Power (pp. 234-264); Hero and Tolbert. “Latinos and Substantive Representation in the U.S. House of Representatives: Direct, Indirect or Nonexistent?” Ch. 10 in Pursuing Power (pp. 265-278)

3/1     Discussion

Week 10     

3/4     Latino Political Influence in State and Local Government

Readings: Regalado, Jaime. “The Political Incorporation of LA’s Communities of Color,” Ch. 6 in Pursuing Power (pp. 169-189); Márquez, Ben. “The Industrial Areas Foundation and the Mexican-American Community in Texas,” Ch. 4 in Pursuing Power (pp. 127-150); Moreno, Dario. “The Cuban Model: Political Empowerment in Miami,” Ch. 8 in Pursuing Power (pp. 208-226)

3/6     Group in-class exercise: local government and policymaking

3/8     Wrap-up of exercise/discussion

Week 11

3/11   Policy Issues – Education, Affirmative Action and Language Policy

Readings: “Outputs from the Political System,” in Pursuing Power (pp. 266-278); Fraga, et al. “Hispanic Americans and Educational Policy: Limits to Equal Access,” Ch. 11 in Pursuing Power (pp. 279-285); Schmidt, Ron. “Latinos and Language Policy: The Politics of Culture,” Ch. 13 in Pursuing Power (pp. 343-368); García, F. Chris. “Latinos and the Affirmative Action Debate,” Ch. 14 in Pursuing Power (pp. 368-400)

3/13   Conclusions

Readings: “Feedback and Conclusions,” Ch. 16 in Pursuing Power (pp. 402-472)

3/15   Discussion and class wrap-up