Latino Politics, Research Paper Example

Political systems should be approached from the dimension of their strength, contradictions as well as weaknesses. Latino and the Hispanics are word connotations which have received a global acceptance with respect to the diverse populations which are associated with historical, linguistic as well as geographical similarities. However, the terminologies favor the side of practical convenience more that it does for the purpose of a descriptive clarity. This paper posits to critically analyze the internal colonization approaches to the study of Latino Politics. The research paper is intended to adopt the positivist research philosophy. A positivist research philosophy facilitates collection and utilization of a large amount of data from multiple sources. This has the effect of enhancing reliability and validity of the research findings and therefore allows for adequate understanding of the research problem (Dawson, 1994, 56).

The available literature in as far as the Latino politics are concerned lays greater emphasis on the differences existing amongst a variety of the Latino groups that exists. This is a fact attributed to the 1989 Latino National Political Survey whose specific targets were the Latinos (Dawson, 1994, 156). According to the 1994 along with 2006 national debates on the policy of immigration, the diversity of the Latinos is clearly demonstrated and this is a distinguishable group of the population in the context of the group as well as the electorate.

The politics of the Latinos all along from 1970s has responded to global political events as well as changes in demographic features, embracing innovative as well as emerging trends with regard to broader discipline. This consequently has been a source of new insights of its kind with a significant contribution advances in political science (Key, 2009, 245).

In due course, intellectual foundations along with a proliferating empirical results body have emerged. The contribution of the two bodies is to challenge the theories as well as the findings that have persisted for a long time in the broader context of the discipline (Key, 2009, 113-125).  This therefore has the implication of the fact that research in the politics of the Latinos has a central theme of refining as well as broadening the content of knowledge of American politics among the people (Alba, 2006, 289–96). The issues of social marginality, immigration along with the social status of the Latinos as an ethnic as well as a racial minority results to the unique nature of the population which is also associated with significant obstacles while making use of the available interpretation along with the orthodoxies derived from the traditions of other disciplines to the Latinos which is considered as an emerging and a drastically proliferating segment of American community (DeSipio, 1996, 137-167). Five important areas have been identified after an inquiry along this line of thought. They include pluralism, mobilization in addition to the identity of the group, assimilation, political participation and institutions along with their representation.

Internal colonization therefore has been a cause of sociopolitical system which has facilitated the domination as well as exploitation of the Latinos by the rest of the groups in the American political system. However, a formal legal status for the Latinos may be perceived to be similar to the other groups. Internal colonization lays its major emphasis on the issue of integrating the interrelationships that are historically racist between the Latinos and the majority dominant non-Latino groups forming a political system with a fine fabric (Alba, 2006, 289–96).

Inferior or negative traits have been linked any group that has deviated from the mainstream group. Therefore, the Latinos stereotypes becomes entrenched in to the social as well as political systems institutions in the context of educational, financial as well as electro system infrastructure. The emphasis given by elitism perspective is the presence of a privileged division of people having an advantage of exposure to superior resources that are associated with the attachments that area racially generated which is a cause of further appropriation of the privileged class to the top position (DeSipio, 1996, 87-117).

The model of the elitism is to a lesser degree dependent on the issue of racial distinction and to a greater degree on the group disparities which is the basis of the explanation of irregular power as well as resources distribution which is a common feature among the Latino masses. Yet a further disparity arises in as far as the issue of elitism is concerned. This is rooted to the failure of an effective explanation to the proliferation of the Latino influences. All the same, there is a failure by the Latino elites to give indicate a remembrance to Latino masses but the higher possibility is an indication of resemblance to the non Latino elite cohort (DeSipio, 1996, 167-188).

Some scholars are in favor of the argument that a significant proportion of the Latinos are exposed to a structural barrier to the existing opportunities which the other mainstream group has exposure to although success stories prevail. There is an undeniable perspective of a relationship between the Latinos to the American system which has a characteristic of a pluralistic society that is two-tiered with the presence of conformist population whose operations are based on traditional patterns which are associated with the immigrant group (Key, 2009, 113-125). There is also an existent of a second tier which is composed of political as well as social sub class with positions that are propped up by the cultural as well as historical inequalities which in the course of time have been entrenched in to the existing structural system fabric.

This type of pluralism of a two-tired nature is a political system with multifaceted framework which is officially unrestricting but its existence is based on the availability of a social system which is exposed to some informal constrained with regard to the negative historical relationships (Key, 2009, 113-125).  The study of the Latino politics is based on expanded along with challenged premises of pluralism of multiple power centers with regard to political system which facilitated for the classes of people exposed to limited resources to have a priority in making political decisions while at the same time complicating the chances of access of this opportunity to the dominant group. The results of higher levels of demographic growth among the Latinos together with the issue of political participation have an insignificant implication to the Latinos in all the states. An exploration of the Latino political is an important basis of insights of the strategic choices that have been achieved by the political parties in America in the process of positioning themselves in to strategic positions that influences the victorious results of elections in the future (Dawson, 1994, 156).

Works cited

Alba, Richard. “Mexican Americans and the American Dream.” Perspectives on Politics 4 289–96, 2006.

Dawson, Michael C. Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African-American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.

DeSipio, Louis. Counting on the Latino Vote. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1996.

Key, V. O. Jr. Southern Politics In State and Nation. NewYork: Knopf, 2009.