New Insights Into the Roots and Results of Latino Political Cynicism

Healthy Skepticism or Corrosive Cynicism?: New Insights into the Roots and Results of Latino Political Cynicism Melissa R. Michelson RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Volume 2, Number 3, June 2016, pp. 60-77 (Article) Published by Russell Sage Foundation For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/625097 [ Access provided at 24 Sep 2021 17:15 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] Healthy Skepticism or Corrosive Cynicism? New Insights into the Roots and Results of Latino Political Cynicism melissa r. michelson The degree to which citizens and residents trust the government is crucial for the maintenance of democracy and a stable civil society. Trust in government generates willingness to conform to rules and regulations, as well as to work within the democratic system rather than turning to more confrontational or even violent political action. The degree to which immigrants trust the government has symbolic importance, reflecting how well we are staying true to our history as a melting pot and to our history as a nation of immigrants. Residents need to feel safe to contact authorities in case of emergency, without threat of deportation or other negative reprisals related to their immigration status. Existing research finds that Latinos in the United States are increasingly cynical, threatening various negative consequences for the political system. The health of our democracy thus demands a good understanding of the causes and consequences of Latino immigrant trust in government (or lack thereof). This article compares Latino trust in government in the context of the 2012 presidential election campaign—one in which outreach to Latino citizens in pursuit of their votes signaled that they were important and powerful members of the polity—to Latino trust in government in the context of the 2006 immigration marches—one in which Latinos found themselves taking to the streets to protest anti- Latino and anti- immigrant legislation. Latino political trust is sensitive to this shifting context, suggesting that how U.S. society treats Latino immigrants has powerful effects on their political social- ization and attitudes. Keywords: trust in government, Latino immigrants, 2012 election, immigration marches, Latino political attitudes Political trust matters. The degree to which in- groups serve as a measure of a healthy democ- dividuals trust the government is an indicator racy—the degree to which members of these of the health of civic society and their willing- communities trust the government is a proxy ness to support and comply with public poli- for how well they are being incorporated into cies. Political trust influences the degree to civil society and feel like full members of the which elected officials are able to govern effec- polity. tively and the likelihood that the public will Rogers Smith (1997, 2004) and other schol- believe that the country’s resources are being ars have shown how citizenship and inclusion spent wisely rather than wasted. Beyond its im- in the U.S. polity has traditionally been defined portance as an indicator of general civic health, in terms of race and gender classifications. feelings of political trust among traditionally Throughout U.S. history, immigration and nat- marginalized or underrepresented ethnoracial uralization policies have been explicitly de- Melissa R. Michelson is professor of political science at Menlo College. My thanks to James McCann, Michael Jones- Correa, Mark Hugo Lopez, and Annie Franco for their valuable help; all errors, of course, remain my own. Direct correspondence to: Melissa R. Michelson at melissa.michelson @menlo.edu, Menlo College, 1000 El Camino Real, Atherton, CA 94027. results o F l atino political cynicism 61 signed to maintain the United States as a white previous scholarship, citizens are hypothe- Protestant nation and to materially privilege sized to be more trusting than noncitizens, re- the white population (Haney- López 1996; Lip- flecting the sense of empowerment generated sitz 1998; King 2000). These ascriptive under- via election campaign rhetoric. standings, in turn, have affected the develop- ment of political thought within ethnoracial the ImpoRtance of political TruSt communities, as well as approaches to and en- Political trust is generally understood as “a ba- gagement with political and collective action sic evaluative orientation toward the govern- (García Bedolla and Michelson 2012; Lavariega ment founded on how well the government is Monforti and Michelson 2014). In sum, for operating according to people’s normative ex- many people the terms American and voter con- pectations” (Hetherington 1998, 791). For de- jure up images of (non- Latino) whites. cades, respondents to surveys have been asked When citizens are invited to participate in the same basic question meant to measure this the electoral process—when they are mobi- trust: “How much of the time do you trust the lized to vote—they are given an explicit mes- government to do what is right—just about al- sage of inclusion and political power. Theo- ways, most of the time, some of the time, or retically, this should also influence feelings of never?” Political trust by citizens and residents trust in government, as those who feel em- is crucial for the maintenance of democracy powered should also feel more trusting of the and a stable civil society, and is a powerful pre- political system. An opportunity to test this dictor of individual political behavior. Rima theory arises from the shifting political envi- Wilkes notes, “Trust in government is essential ronment of the last decade, because Latinos to the health of democratic societies. Trust in- have experienced polar extremes in terms of creases communication between citizens, fa- societal messages about their degrees of be- cilitates the building of democratic organiza- longing and political power. In 2006, Latinos tions, reduces transaction costs and helps to were told that they did not belong. In 2012, they minimise conflict. It also affects tax compli- were told that they had the power to determine ance, electoral choices and policy preferences. the outcome of the presidential election. In Trust matters” (2014, 2). 2006, Latinos were marching in the streets in Low levels of trust lead to decreased compli- protest of harsh anti- immigrant legislation ance with laws, regulations, and judicial deci- passed by the House of Representatives. In sions, or even active resistance, and make it 2012, Latinos found Democrats and Republi- more difficult for government to take action to cans walking in their streets, asking for their address domestic policy concerns (Levi 1998; support in the presidential election, and many Scholtz and Lubell 1998; Tyler 1998; Hethering- undocumented immigrants had applied to be ton 1998; Chanley, Rudolph, and Rahn 2001). part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Ar- The degree to which immigrants trust the rivals (DACA) program announced by Presi- government is particularly important because dent Obama in July 2012, a program that de- it reflects how well we are staying true to our ferred the threat of deportation and allowed history as a melting pot and as a nation of im- participants to obtain two- year work permits. migrants. How well are we incorporating new In sum, Latinos were much more likely to feel members of the polity, and how welcome do a sense of belonging in the United States in the they feel? On March 31, 2014, the New York fall of 2012 than in 2006. This should be par- Times published a story about the tendency of ticularly true for citizens, who were not only young Latinos—the future voting core of Amer- being told by media and campaigns that they ica and the likely key to victory in the 2016 elec- belonged, but also that they were politically tion—to resist registering to vote because of powerful. their cynicism about both political parties. This paper tests the hypothesis that Latinos Noting the lack of comprehensive immigration would be more likely to say that they trust the reform (or the promise that some might be ap- government in the fall of 2012 than in 2006. In proved in the near future), or even passage of addition, in contrast to earlier findings from a narrower piece of immigrant-related legisla- : 62 immigrants inside politics/outside citizenship tion like a DREAM Act, combined with the ex- elsewhere in this volume, many other variables tremely high rate of deportations imposed by predict Latino immigrants’ feelings of trust (or the Obama administration, Latinos in the cynicism) in the U.S. government, including United States were said to be becoming in- plans to return and the degree to which an increasingly cynical, generating negative conse- dividual voted or was involved with a political quences for the political system.1 party in their home country. Recent examina- Reflecting the importance of political trust, tions of Latino cynicism clarify that Latino scholars for decades have noted with alarm the trust in government (or the lack thereof) is a decreasing trust of Anglo (non-Latino white) function of their acculturation into a racialized Americans. As low as Anglos score on surveys subculture. In other words, as Latinos become of political trust, African Americans score even acculturated they also become more likely to lower. In contrast, multiple studies have shown believe that the government is racist, ethno- that Latinos are more trusting of government centric, or anti- immigrant (Michelson 2007; than Anglos (Guzmán 1970; Garcia 1973; de la Lavariega Monforti and Michelson 2014). Garza et al. 1992; Putnam 2001). Sergio Wals (2011) finds that Mexican immigrants with latino cynicism aMid the 2006 higher levels of trust in the Mexican govern- ImmigRation MaRcheS ment are more likely to be trusting of the U.S. In 2006, Latinos across the country were taking government. Early studies of Mexican Ameri- to the streets to protest the Sensenbrenner bill can youth found that youths become increas- (HR 4437).

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