By Alise Brillault

April 26, 2022

Some of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative’s (UCLA LPPI) most sought-after research products are its analyses of Latino voters. As the nation’s second-largest ethnic group, Latinos are consequential in determining the outcome of elections. Thus, understanding the size and voting behavior of Latino communities across the country is critical to mobilizing this growing electorate.

Dr. Rodrigo Domínguez-Villegas, UCLA LPPI’s co-director of research, has spearheaded several reports that analyze the size of the Latino population that is eligible to vote, the number of Latinos who register to vote, and the actual candidates and ballot measures that Latinos support. With these studies, UCLA LPPI is debunking the myth of Latinos as a monolithic voting bloc and asking questions to understand the nuances of this diverse electorate.

UCLA LPPI understands that while the Latino vote is consequential, when voters of color come together they can wield significant influence. That is why UCLA LPPI prioritizes working in multiracial coalition to understand the collective power of voters of color. As such, UCLA LPPI has affiliations with faculty experts like Dr. Natalie Masuoka, UCLA professor of political science and Asian American studies, to study the voting behavior of Asian Americans and Latinos in conjunction.

“Latino voters and Asian voters are the two demographic groups growing fastest in the country,” Dr. Domínguez-Villegas explained. “Their impact on deciding elections has grown in the past decade, and it will only keep growing.”

Dr. Masuoka emphasized that researchers also learn the most when thinking comparatively. “We cannot analyze a population in isolation,” she said. “We therefore can’t understand the impact of race on voting by only looking at one group – we need to look at how it’s constructed vis-a-vis other groups.”

Some of the projects that UCLA LPPI has worked on in collaboration with Dr. Masuoka and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center include an analysis of Latino and Asian voters in the 2020 primary elections and a study of racial differences in the support of California propositions that same year.

The innovative method of conducting this research was originally conceptualized by Dr. Matt Barreto and is unique to UCLA LPPI. Rather than relying on traditional exit polls, wherein surveyors only interview small numbers of voters, UCLA LPPI analyzes actual ballots cast in all precincts and matches that data to demographic information. This allows researchers to more accurately understand the choices of Latinos and other voters of color.

Furthermore, going beyond party choice to focus on ballot propositions allows researchers to gain a more granular understanding of the diversity of political views within communities.

Another distinctive facet of this work is the hands-on engagement of  policy fellows in the research. Graduate students use their quantitative skills to gather and present data to research analysts therbey by helping to draw substantive conclusions. These graduate fellows in turn train undergraduate students such as Bryanna Ruiz Fernández, which facilitates unique mentorship opportunities.

“As a first-generation college student, higher education has been a difficult space to navigate, and research even more difficult,” said Ruiz Fernández. “However, having the opportunity to be guided by individuals like Michael Herndon and Daisy Vazquez Vera who faced similar challenges as myself, I was able to receive individualized support and guidance in order to build the skills that will ensure I am successful in whichever research-focused role I find myself in.”

Policy fellows also bring to the table key insights from their lived experiences growing up and working in Latino communities.

“Many of these students have participated in voter mobilization efforts,” Dr. Domínguez-Villegas explained. “They can understand the needs of the Latino community and voters’ priorities through an organizer’s perspective.”

UCLA LPPI is now gearing up for the 2022 midterm elections, with research that will focus on key states like Arizona, Florida and Georgia where Latino and other voters of color will be consequential to election outcomes

LA Social Science interviews Dr. Sherene Razack, Distinguished Professor in Gender Studies & Penney Kanner Endowed Chair in Women’s Studies at UCLA. Her new book titled, Nothing Has to Make Sense: Upholding White Supremacy Through Anti-Muslim Racism, argues that the figure of the Muslim reveals a world divided between the deserving and the disposable, where people of European origin are the former and all others are confined in various ways to regimes of disposability. Emerging from critical race theory, and bridging with Islamophobia/critical religious studies, it demonstrates that anti-Muslim racism is a revelatory window into the operation of white supremacy as a global force.

Interview Chapters:

00:04 – Intro

01:00 – What is the main contribution of this book?

04:23 – Meaning of “Christian White Supremacy”?

06:58 – How has popular culture and anti-Muslim racism changed over time?

09:54 – Why should someone read this book?

To learn more, check out Professor Razack’s book, Nothing Has to Make Sense: Upholding White Supremacy Through Anti-Muslim Racism.

 

Subscribe to LA Social Science and be the first to learn more insight and knowledge from UCLA’s Division of Social Science experts and other faculty about upcoming video/audio sessions and posts about current issues.

As summer 2022 approaches, LA Social Science had the opportunity to interview Harold Lewis, summer lecturer in Communications, about his course on film finance. Mr. Lewis is the Founder of Pitch2Me.com, an Online Film Finance Portal that brings filmmakers and professional film financiers together.

Interview Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

01:54 – Why did you develop this course and why is it important?

03:21 – Who should take this course, and do they need a background in Finance?

05:19 – What subjects does the course cover?

06:43 – What will the students get out of the course?

07:18 – How can this course advance the students’ academic and career outcomes?

09:05 – What would you say to all potential students?

 

To learn more about this summer course, click HERE.  To enroll in this course, click HERE.

To learn more about all the summer courses offered by the UCLA Department of Communication, click HERE.

You may also learn more about all of UCLA’s summer courses HERE.

 

Subscribe to LA Social Science and be the first to learn more insight and knowledge from UCLA’s Division of Social Science experts and other faculty about upcoming video/audio sessions and posts about current issues.

LA Social Science interviews Dr. José Loya, a UCLA Assistant Professor in Urban Planning and a faculty affiliate with the Chicano Studies Research Center. His research examines racial stratification among Latinxs in the mortgage market. He discusses how discrimination in housing creates barriers for upward mobility in the Latinx community.

Interview Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

00:39 – Social stratification and racial discrimination in housing

01:03 – Article in Race and Social Problems Journal

02:12 – Research methods

02:51 – Interesting findings – tri-racial hierarchy

04:27 – Research impact on Latinx community

05:20 – Closing

 

Subscribe to LA Social Science and be the first to learn more insight and knowledge from UCLA’s Division of Social Science experts and other faculty about upcoming video/audio sessions and posts about current issues.