Mobilizing Opportunities

There is a lot of talk--in the public sphere as well as among scholars--about how important Latino voters are to political candidates, but most of the discussion is based on undertheorized 'models' of political activation. Ramírez's book presents a sophisticated argument about both the causes and the future of Latino political power in the United States. Mobilizing Opportunities is destined to become the most important book in Latino politics for the next generation. -Jane Junn, University of Southern California, coauthor of The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and Immigration Mobilizing Opportunities takes several essential steps in helping us to understand whether, where, how, and why the perennially 'sleeping giant' of the Latino electorate is stirring into wakefulness and may soon have a huge impact on American politics. Ramírez places individuals within their crucial political contexts of states and other political jurisdictions; he shows how the media, political parties, and organizations mobilize potential political actors; he attends to variation among Latinos and their political settings; and he makes it clear why cross-sectional analyses do not suffice in our rapidly changing political environment. Each of these moves is a big step forward, and together they make for a really valuable and interesting book. -Jennifer Hochschild, Harvard University, coauthor of Creating a New Racial Order: How Immigration, Multiracialism, Genomics, and the Young Can Remake Race in America Ramírez's compelling book on Latino voter mobilization reminds us that demographics are not destiny, and that the engagement of prospective voters is shaped not just by national trends but by distinct incentives and disincentives in state and local contexts. It's a critical roadmap to Latino political engagement, how it varies across key states, and why. -Michael Jones-Correa, Cornell University, coauthor of Latinos in the New Millennium: An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior, and Policy Preferences