Hello everyone! My name is Miguel Arceo and I am a junior at Florida State University. Currently, I am majoring in both political science and public relations with a research intensive bachelor’s certificate. Outside of the classroom, I am a research fellow at the LeRoy Collins Institute where we specialize in election attitudes and election security. In my freetime, I serve as the vice-president of Delta Sigma Phi, volunteer for Florida American Legion Boys State, and oversee a scholarship fund that I founded in my hometown.
In spite of my various commitments, I am really excited to share with you all the research that I will be focusing on this summer. For context, political scientists and practitioners have seen a sizable minority of Hispanic voters support President Donald Trump and other Republicans who have taken a hard-line stance against illegal immigration. In some cases, these political figures have even promoted negative stereotypes about the Hispanic population as a whole. Despite this commentary, there is still support from this conservative group of Hispanics and even increases in overall support.
My research will be utilizing the American National Election Study to investigate the correlation between generations of Hispanic and their support for conservative beliefs and issues. The hypothesis I will be testing is that as generations grow further from the immigrant experience and integrate into American society, they will be more supportive of immigration restrictions. In this model, I will also be testing for the difference between groups based on demographics, such as country of origin.
In conducting literature analysis, one of the trends I have noticed in political science research is that Hispanics have traditionally been treated as a monolithic group. What I really intend to do with this research question is showing the ideological differences that can exist between members of the same demographic group. Although I am starting with generation and nationality, I believe that my findings will encourage further discussion on the way that political science approaches Hispanic voters.
I am looking forward to spending my summer on this research question and being able to report on my findings!
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