Organized to follow the structure of a standard introduction to American politics text, this unique reader highlights the role of diversity in U.S. politics through exploration of engaging, contemporary political issues. Based on the thesis that demographic diversity in America plays an important role in political outcomes and policy processes, this reader covers a wide range of contemporary issues and encompasses a myriad of group cleavages. Carefully selected readings from both academic and popular sources, in conjunction with introductions by the editors and end of chapter resources, present complex issues in an accessible, engaging way.

With Mexican Americans now the nation’s fastest growing minority, major political parties are targeting these voters like never before. During the 2004 presidential campaign, both the Republicans and Democrats ran commercials on Spanish-language television networks, and in states across the nation the Mexican-American vote can now mean the difference between winning or losing an election. This book examines the various ways politics plays out in the Mexican-origin community, from grassroots action and voter turnout to elected representation, public policy creation, and the influence of lobbying organizations. Lisa Magaña illustrates the essential roles that Mexican Americans play in the political process and shows how, in just the last decade, there has been significant political mobilization around issues such as environmental racism, immigration, and affirmative action. Mexican Americans and the Politics of Diversity is directed to readers who are examining this aspect of political action for the first time. It introduces the demographic characteristics of Mexican Americans, reviewing demographic research regarding this population’s participation in both traditional and nontraditional politics, and reviews the major historical events that led to the community’s political participation and activism today. The text then examines Mexican American participation in electoral political outlets, including attitudes toward policy issues and political parties; considers the reasons for increasing political participation by Mexican American women; and explores the issues and public policies that are most important to Mexican Americans, such as education, community issues, housing, health care, and employment. Finally, it presents general recommendations and predictions regarding Mexican American political participation based on the demographic, cultural, and historical determinants of this population, looking at how political issues will affect this growing and dynamic population. Undoubtedly, Mexican Americans are a diverse political group whose interests cannot be easily pigeonholed, and, after reading this book, students will understand that their political participation and the community’s public policy needs are often unique. Mexican Americans and the Politics of Diversity depicts an important political force that will continue to grow in the coming decades.

Diversity has become a key term in contemporary social politics, and is often used as both a description of complex social realities and a normative prescription for how those realities should be valued, influenced by the politics of multiculturalism and by social movements asserting "the right to be different" diversity has emerged as an open, fluid discourse that challenges reductive visions of legitimate identities and human possibilities.It is this apparent acceptance of diversity as a fact and value that this book looks at in several ways, it offers a countervailing assessment of diversity, seeing it less as a unifying social imaginary and more as a cost-free form of politics attuned to the needs of late capitalist, consumer societies.The essays collected here are developed from a research seminar entitled "Diversity, Human Rights and Participation" organised by the Partnership on Youth between the Council of Europe and the European Commission. The studies gathered here are embedded in 10 different national contexts. They track dimensions of 'diversity' in education, social services, jurisprudence, parliamentary proceedings and employment initiatives, and assess their significances for the social actors who must negotiate these frameworks in their daily experience.

In what ways do local authorities respond to the increasing socio-cultural heterogeneity of urban populations? While other studies have often focused on policy declarations, the eight chapters in this book provide rich evidence on the content and implementation of local policies. Furthermore, several chapters offer theoretical insights into the factors driving or hindering policies that acknowledge socio-cultural heterogeneity and ensure more equality and inclusive public services. The general focus of the book is on cities in France and Germany, that is, two major immigration countries in Europe - countries in which local authorities have a relatively strong position within the state structure. The contributions analyze how local actors use their powers to ensure more equal public employment, adapt cultural offers and recreational facilities to the demands of a diverse population, and/or to fight discrimination. Further chapters investigate who takes part in formulating policies and seek to explain why cities take different decisions about strategies and practices. As a whole, the book contributes to the comparative study of societal diversity and local politics in France and Germany, and will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced students of Sociology, Public Policy, Law, and Political Science. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Introduction : Marable's forecast -- The elusive quest for people of color -- People of color, unite! -- The many faces of people of color -- New wine in new bottles -- I feel your pain, brother -- Galvanizing people of color -- Falling apart -- Conclusion : people of color in a diversifying world.

Diversity and dissent have been shown to improve decision-making in small groups. This understanding can be extended to the political arena and in turn it can enlighten ideas about policy-making. This book focuses on the relationship between electoral institutions and policy outcomes in order to effectively explore the impact of diversity and dissent on the political arena. In doing so, it provides an empirical assessment of three key areas: the diversity of political information. policy innovation. pandering. Drawing on economics, psychology, organization theory, and computer science, this innovative volume makes an important contribution to scholarship on the impact of electoral systems and the democratic nature of governments. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of governance, electoral systems, representation, comparative politics, public policy, democratic government and political theory.

This is the first volume in which the fate of democracy is directly related to ethnic diversity. It highlights the crucial episodes in modern European political history, and shows in what sense ethnic diversity was of vital importance.