Boomerang: The Effects of Authoritarianism and Pre-Migration Political Experiences on the Partisanship and Political Attitudes of First- and Second-Generation Latinos

Abstract

Following the micro-targeting of Latino national origin groups by the Biden and Trump campaigns during the 2020 election cycle, my thesis examines the role between pre-migration political experiences and post-migration political attitudes among first-generation and second-generation Latinos. Specifically, I measure whether pre-migration exposure to authoritarianism or extreme ideological policies holds any relationship to the political outlook of these two generational subgroups. Drawing from an original large-scale survey of first-generation and second-generation Latinos, I find that home-country political experiences appear to influence the partisan acquisition and political outlook of both subgroups. Although the depth of this relationship remains to be seen, pre-migration exposure to authoritarianism and several home-country ideological policies prove to be significant predictors of post-migration partisanship, fear of socialism, and support for taxing wealthy Americans among first-generation and second-generation Latinos. Broadly speaking, my thesis highlights the importance of accounting for country-of-origin experiences when studying the political behaviors of Latino immigrants and their U.S.-born descendants.