Ethnic Interests And Political Participation:The Latinos' Voting Choices In The U.S. Presidential Elections(1992-2012)

The United States is a country composed of immigrants and their descendants,and is also a country of social and ethnic stratification.There are structural differences between ethnic minorities and main-stream white groups in politics,economy and society,and ethnic minorities are always in a disadvantaged position.As the largest ethnic minority group in the United States,Latinos' low level of education,poor employment and the existence of large-scale illegal immigrants have always kept them at the bottom of American society.They have been subjected to discrimination and exclusion,which has seriously impeded their existence and development.In order to improve their social situation,since the 1990 s,Latinos have been actively participating in political elections,expressing their appeals by voting,and supporting the presidential candidates in line with Latinos' position to influence the government's policies in immigration,education and other issues which are closely related to the vital interests of Latinos.Eventually,it promotes the Latinos' social status and realizes their ethnic interests.This thesis consists of the introduction,main body and conclusion.The introduction mainly introduces the reason of choosing the topic,the research significance,related research works by foreign and domestic scholars,research methods,innovation and deficiency of the thesis.The main body is divided into three parts: Part one reviews the Latinos' immigration process,explores the demographic and geographical distribution characteristics of Latinos,and analyzes the trends that they presents.Part two explores Latinos' voting rates,political leanings and the key impact of Latinos voting in “swing states” during the 1992-2012 presidential elections.Then it analyzes the interest appeals of Latinos in the issues of immigration and education,taking the issues as clues and time as the axis,from the perspective of history to examine presidential candidates' measures taken from the levels of immigration and education to strive for Latino voters,and the responses from Latino voters.Finally,it analyzes the factors that influence the voting behavior of Latinos.Part three explores the effects on Latinos of its participation in the presidential elections.The conclusion makes a brief summary about the relationship between Latinos' electoral political participation and their ethnic interests.I hold the view that Latinos pay more attention to what the presidential candidates can bring to Latinos when they vote,the influence of partisanship is limited,ethnic interests are the key.