Barriers to Political Participation of Puerto Ricans and Hispanics in Osceola County, Florida: 1991-2007

This paper examines Puerto Rican/Hispanic political participation in Osceola County, Florida, focusing on the attitudes Puerto Ricans/ Hispanics bring to the process, the general features of their participation, and the conditions in which they register, vote, and run for office. The paper offers a theoretical characterization of Puerto Rican/Hispanic political participation that includes the elements of racialization, inequality, reliance on external resources, and a type of identity politics that mixes elements of minority and white political behavior. The paper suggests that, so long as Puerto Ricans/Hispanics continue to face socioeconomic and political inequality while simultaneously enjoying discrete opportunities to choose between Puerto Rican/Hispanic candidates, their political behavior will be both minority and white; minority to the extent it focuses on descriptive representation and white to the extent it takes descriptive representation for granted.