Talking Politics: Political Discussion Networks and the New American Electorate

Over five decades of research has made clear that social networks can have an important impact on our political behavior. Specifically, when we engage in political conversation within these networks we develop connections that increase the likelihood that we will become politically active. Yet, most studies of political behavior focus on individuals, rather than the effects of networks on political behavior. Furthermore, any studies of networks have, by and large, been based on White Americans. Given what we know about the ways in which neighborhood, cultural, friend, and family networks tend to segregate along ethnic and racial lines, the authors of this book argue that we can assume that political networks segregate in much the same way. This book draws on quantitative and qualitative analyses of 4000 White American, African American, Latino, and Asian American people to explore inter and intra-ethnoracial differences in social network composition, size, partisanship, policy attitudes, and homophily in political and civic engagement. The book thus makes three key contributions: 1) it provides, for the first time, detailed comparative analysis of how political networks vary across and within ethnoracial groups; 2) demonstrates how historical differences in partisanship, policy attitudes, and engagement are reflected within groups' social networks; and, 3) reveals the impact that networks can have on individuals' political and civic engagement.

Politics & Social Sciences

Carlson, Taylor N.

Abrajano, Marisa

García Bedolla, Lisa

Social Sciences

Oxford University Press

Review\n"...engaging..." -- Journal of Economic Literature\n"While the book will be of primary interest to political scientists, its insights about the socially constituted nature of political opinion and the diversity of the American electorate will inform anyone trying to understand the dynamics of contemporary US politics. Recommended. Graduate students and faculty." -- N. Zaretsky, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, CHOICE\n"Drawing from a rich new dataset on political conversations among Latinx, Black, Asian American, and White Americans, this book enriches our understanding of the dynamics of discussion networks and political engagement. This is essential reading for anyone interested in how Americans talk to one another about politics, and what impact these conversations have on elections." -- Jane Junn, University of Southern California\n"The authors challenge traditional studies of political behavior by analyzing original data that considers the diversity of networks-and political conversations in particular-for understanding what citizens believe and do.Â The authors demonstrate that the influence of informal conversation varies across ethno-racial groups, highlighting the critical importance of integrating the changing diversity and communication patterns of the mass public as fundamental features of our research.ÂAn interesting and invaluable study of political behavior in the U.S. today." -- Jan E. Leighley, American University\n"This book offers a critical new perspective on the study of political communication and networks by centering the social contexts that shape who we talk to in our everyday lives. The authors make a compelling case about how politics is a function of lived community and how we experience it through racialized interactions with others. They offer a lively, informed assessment of how the effects of these discussions varies across groups." -- Janelle S. Wong, University of Maryland, College Park\nOver five decades of research has made clear that social networks can have an important impact on our political behavior. Specifically, when we engage in political conversation within these networks we develop connections that increase the likelihood that we will become politically active. Yet, most studies of political behavior focus on individuals, rather than the effects of networks on political behavior. Furthermore, any studies of networks have, by and large, been based on White Americans. Given what we know about the ways in which neighborhood, cultural, friend, and family networks tend to segregate along ethnic and racial lines, the authors of this book argue that we can assume that political networks segregate in much the same way.\nThis book draws on quantitative and qualitative analyses of 4000 White American, African American, Latino, and Asian American people to explore inter and intra-ethnoracial differences in social network composition, size, partisanship, policy attitudes, and homophily in political and civic engagement. The book thus makes three key contributions: 1) it provides, for the first time, detailed comparative analysis of how political networks vary across and within ethnoracial groups; 2) demonstrates how historical differences in partisanship, policy attitudes, and engagement are reflected within groups' social networks; and, 3) reveals the impact that networks can have on individuals' political and civic engagement.

Which get-out-the-vote efforts actually succeed in ethnoracial communities—and why? Analyzing the results from hundreds of original experiments, the authors of this book offer a persuasive new theory to explain why some methods work while others don’t.
Exploring and comparing a wide variety of efforts targeting ethnoracial voters, Lisa García Bedolla and Melissa R. Michelson present a new theoretical frame—the Social Cognition Model of voting, based on an individual’s sense of civic identity—for understanding get-out-the-vote effectiveness. Their book will serve as a useful guide for political practitioners, for it offers concrete strategies to employ in developing future mobilization efforts.

Mobilizing Inclusion: Transforming the Electorate through Get-Out-the-Vote Campaigns (The Institution for Social and Policy Studies)

Michelson, Melissa R.

Yale University Press

This provocative study of the Latino political experience offers a nuanced, in-depth, and often surprising perspective on the factors affecting the political engagement of a segment of the population that is now the nation's largest minority. Drawing from one hundred in-depth interviews, Lisa García Bedolla compares the political attitudes and behavior of Latinos in two communities: working-class East Los Angeles and middle-class Montebello. Asking how collective identity and social context have affected political socialization, political attitudes and practices, and levels of political participation among the foreign born and native born, she offers new findings that are often at odds with the conventional wisdom emphasizing the role socioeconomic status plays in political involvement. Fluid Borders includes the voices of many individuals, offers exciting new research on Latina women indicating that they are more likely than men to vote and to participate in political activities, and considers how the experience of social stigma affects the collective identification and political engagement of members of marginal groups. This innovative study points the way toward a better understanding of the Latino political experience, and how it differs from that of other racial groups, by situating it at the intersection of power, collective identity, and place.

Fluid Borders: Latino Power, Identity, and Politics in Los Angeles

History

Americas

University of California Press

Latino Politics (US Minority Politics)

Fully revised and updated, the second edition of this popular text provides students with a comprehensive introduction to Latino participation in US politics. Focusing on six Latino groups - Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, and Guatemalans - the book explores the migration history of each group and shows how that experience has been affected by US foreign policy and economic interests in each country of origin. The political status of Latinos on arrival in the United States, including their civil rights, employment opportunities, and political incorporation, is then examined. Finally, the analysis follows each group’s history of collective mobilization and political activity, drawing out the varied ways they have engaged in the US political system. Using the tension between individual agency and structural constraints as its central organizing theme, the discussion situates Latino migrants, and their children, within larger macro economic and geo-political structures that influence their decisions to migrate and their ability to adapt socially, economically, and politically to their new country. It also demonstrates how Latinos continually have shown that through political action they can significantly improve their channels of opportunity. Thus, the book encourages students to think critically about what it means to be a racialized minority group within a majoritarian US political system, and how that position structures Latinos’ ability to achieve their social, economic, and political goals.

Polity

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by García Bedolla, Lisa. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by García Bedolla, Lisa

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by García Bedolla, Lisa. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Talking Politics: Political Discussion Networks and the New American Electorate

Talking Politics: Political Discussion Networks and the New American Electorate

Mobilizing Inclusion: Transforming the Electorate through Get-Out-the-Vote Campaigns (The Institution for Social and Policy Studies)

Fluid Borders: Latino Power, Identity, and Politics in Los Angeles

Latino Politics (US Minority Politics)

Latino Politics (US Minority Politics)