Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beyond Symbolic Representation: A Comparison Of The Electoral Pathways And Policy Priorities Of Asian American And Latino Elected Officials, Kim Geron, James Lai

Ethnic Studies

This is an exploratory study of the impact of Latino and Asian American elected officials on their respective groups' political incorporation. The authors argue that Latino and Asian American elected officials' paths to elected office do not always fit the biracial coalition model of political incorporation for minorities, and instead suggest a reconstructed model to explain the distinctive character of Latino and Asian American group efforts toward political representation. The results of this paper are based on information gathered from two nationwide mail surveys of Latino elected officials (LEOs) and Asian American elected officials (AAEOs). The 2000 National Asian American …