United by fate?: collective identity and Latino party identification

Abstract

This thesis examines the predictors influencing partisan identity among Latinos in the United States. Using data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS), this study tests the applicability of Michael Dawson’s (1994) concept of linked fate developed to explain Black partisanship, to Latinos. Results show that believing in linked fate, the belief that what happens to a member of one’s racial group affects one personally, is a contributing factor to Latino party identification. I find that the more Latinos have a sense of linked fate, Democratic partisan identification is more prevalent in the aggregate or individual level, mirroring Dawson’s (1994) theory of Black Democratic partisanship.