Political Participation among Hispanics: Voting and Contacting in a Northern County

ABSTRACT:

Most recent research on the political behavior of Hispanics has focused on the South and Southwest and on Mexican Americans. This study examines voting and contacting among Hispanics who are primarily Puerto Ricans living in the Northeast. The data were collected through interviews with 234 Hispanics in Morris County, New Jersey. The best explanation for voting was the socioeconomic status (SES) model: Higher SES respondents tended to vote in local elections more than lower SES citizens. Contacting is a more complicated form of politcal behavior than voting and requires greater political knowledge and skill and was more difficult to explain because no one model accounted for citizens’ contacts. Rather, the most reasonable explanation suggests that contacting results from a combination of personal and environmental factors. Hispanics who are older, who have higher education, and who live in predominantly white neighborhoods appear to possess greater knowledge and skill and thus are more likely to contact municipal officials.