It's the Economy: The Effect of Economic Policy Appeals on Latino Independents
Publication Date
Winter 1-7-2025
Description
Studies of minority voters have long considered the role of both ethnic identities and economic interests. However, research on Latino voters emphasizes ethnic identity and the related issue of immigration while downplaying the potential persuasive effect of rhetoric on economics, such as jobs and inflation, and on social services, such as healthcare and education. To address this gap, I fielded three survey experiments with online samples of Latino Democrats, independents, and Republicans, who evaluated candidate messages that varied in their partisan source and policy rhetoric. While Latino Democrats and Republicans positively evaluated in-party messages regardless of policy, Latino independents reacted most positively to either party’s economic messages. Meanwhile, both positive and negative messages about undocumented immigration were generally more polarizing than persuasive. These findings demonstrate the need for more research on the potential persuasive effects of economic appeals on Latinos and other groups.
Journal
Political Behavior
Volume
47
First Page
1571
Last Page
1594
Department
Political Science
Link to Published Version
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-025-10004-y
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-025-10004-y
Recommended Citation
Wakefield, Derek. "It's the Economy: The Effect of Economic Policy Appeals on Latino Independents." (2025) : 1571-1594.
Comments
The journal article is not under open access, but Bucknell University/Bertrand Library should have access. If not, I can email a copy from dw043@bucknell.edu for the purposes of data keeping, but it is not allowed to be made public.