Louis DeSipio

Picture of Louis DeSipio
Professor, Political Science
School of Social Sciences
Professor, Chicano/Latino Studies
School of Social Sciences
Chair, Chicano/Latino Studies
School of Social Sciences
Ph.D., 1993, University of Texas at Austin
M.A., University of Texas at Austin, 1984, Latin American Studies
B.A., Columbia University, 1981, History
Phone: 949-824-1420
Fax: 949-824-8762
Email: ldesipio@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
SSPB 5283
3151 Social Science Plaza
Mail Code: 5100
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Ethnic Politics, Latino Politics, Immigration, naturalization, U.S. electoral politics
Websites
Academic Distinctions
President, Western Political Science Association (2015-16)
Research Abstract
The question that connects all aspects of my research is how democratic nations - particularly the United States - incorporate new members. Although this question is central to most conceptions of democracy, political science addresses it un-rigorously. It is a particularly important inquiry in the contemporary era because international migration has made most democracies home to large numbers of non-citizens just as those countries are seeking to incorporate ethnic and racial populations that were excluded or incompletely incorporated in the past.

My research fits into two streams of political science and social science scholarship. First, I examine U.S. race and ethnic politics, with a primary focus on Latino politics. I analyze demands made by Latinos on political systems and the response of federal, state, and local political institutions to these demands. Second, I examine formal processes of integration and incorporation in the United States. Specifically, I analyze policymaking in the areas of immigration, naturalization, and immigrant settlement.

My contributions in these areas have been threefold. First, I have designed and collected the primary survey data that measure Latino political values, attitudes, and behaviors. I also designed and directed ethnographic research that added context and nuance to the survey data. Second, I am one of the two primary analysts of these data and have extensively published theoretical and empirical analyses. Third, I have expanded the boundaries of race and ethnic politics scholarship to inform other sub-fields, particularly immigration and immigrant settlement policy studies.
Publications
de la Garza, Rodolfo; Louis DeSipio; and David Leal, eds. 2010. Beyond the Barrio: Latinos and the 2004 Elections. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Leal, David, and Louis DeSipio. Forthcoming. The Politics of Winning Coalitions. New York; Routledge.
Benjamin-Alvarado, Jonathan; Louis DeSipio; and Christine Montoya-Kirk. 2009. “Latino Mobilization in New Immigrant Destinations: The Anti-H.R. 4437 Protest in Nebraska’s Cities.” Urban Affairs Review 44 (5) (May): 718-735.
Shaw, Todd; Louis DeSipio; Dianne Pinderhughes; and Toni-Michelle Travis. 2019. Uneven Roads: An Introduction to U.S. Race and Ethnic Politics, 2e. Los Angeles: Sage, Congressional Quarterly Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 2019 "The United States." In Mark Kesselman; Joel Krieger; and William A. Joseph, eds. Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Challenging Agendas, 8e, pp. 324-368. Boston, MA Cengage Learning.
DeSipio, Louis, and Carole Jean Uhlaner. 2007. “Immigrant and Native: Mexican American 2004 Presidential Vote Choice Across Immigrant Generations.” American Politics Research, 35 (2) (March): 176-201.
DeSipio, Louis. 2018. "How Well Prepared is Central America for the End of TPS?" Inter-American Dialogue Latin American Advisor. July.
DeSipio, Louis. 2018. "How Well Prepared Is Central America for the End of TPS?" Inter-American Dialogue Latin American Advisor. February.
DeSipio, Louis. 2012. “Immigrant Participation.” In Marc R. Rosenblum and Daniel J. Tichenor, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of International Migration, pp. 171-189. New York: Oxford University Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 2006. “Latino Civic and Political Participation” In Marta Tienda and Faith Mitchell, eds. Hispanics and the Future of America, pp. 447-479. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 2017. "“Will Immigration Reform Get Through the U.S. Congress?” Inter-American Dialogue Latin American Advisor. September.
de la Garza, Rodolfo O., and Louis DeSipio. 2006. “Reshaping the Tub: The Limits of the VRA for Latino Electoral Politics.” In David L. Epstein, Richard H. Pildes, Rodolfo O. de la Garza, and Sharyn O’Halloran, eds. The Future of the Voting Rights Act, pp. 139-162. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
DeSipio, Louis. 2017. “Will Immigration Reform Happen in the U.S. This Year?” Inter-American Dialogue Latin American Advisor. March.
DeSipio, Louis. 2006. “Do Home-Country Political Ties Limit Latino Immigrant Pursuit of U.S. Civic Engagement and Citizenship?” In Taeku Lee, S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, and Ricardo Ramírez, eds. Transforming Politics, Transforming America: The Political and Civic Incorporation of Immigrants in the United States, pp. 106-126. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 2016. "The United States." In Mark Kesselman; Joel Krieger; and William A. Joseph, eds. Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Challenging Agendas, 8e, pp. 312-356. Boston, MA Cengage Learning.
DeSipio, Louis. 2001. "Building America, One Person at a Time:
Naturalization and Political Behavior of the Naturalized in Contemporary
U.S. Politics." In John Mollenkopf and Gary Gerstle, eds. E Pluribus Unum?
Immigrant, Civic Life and Political Incorporation, pp. 67-106.
New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
DeSipio, Louis. 2016. “What is the Current Status of Migrant Flows to the U.S.?” Inter-American Dialogue Latin American Advisor. August.
de la Garza, Rodolfo O., and Louis DeSipio, eds. 1999. Awash in the
Mainstream: Latino Politics in the 1996 Elections. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 2015. "Ballot Propositions 187, 209, 227, and 8." In Suzanne Oboler and Deena J. Gonzalez, eds. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in Contemporary Politics, Law, and Social Movements." New York: Oxford University Press.
DeSipio, Louis, and Adrian D. Pantoja. 2007. “Puerto Rican Exceptionalism? A Comparative Analysis of Puerto Rican, Mexican, Salvadoran, and Dominican Transnational Civic and Political Ties.” In Rodolfo Espino, David L. Leal, and Kenneth J. Meier, eds. Latino Politics: Identity, Mobilization, and Representation, pp. 104-120. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.
Louis DeSipio, and Rodolfo O. de la Garza. 2015. U.S. Immigration in the Twenty-First Century: Making Americans, Remaking America. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 1996. "After Proposition 187, the Deluge: Reforming
Naturalization Administration while Making Good Citizens." Harvard
Journal of Hispanic Policy 9: 7-24.
DeSipio, Louis, and Rodolfo O. de la Garza. 1998. Making Americans,
Remaking America: Immigration and Immigrant Policy. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press.
Shaw, Todd; Louis DeSipio, Dianne Pinderhughes; and Toni-Michelle Travis. 2015. Uneven Roads: An Introduction to U.S. Race and Ethnic Politics. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, Congressional Quarterly Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 1996. Counting on the Latino Vote: Latinos as a New Electorate. Charlottesville, VA: The University Press of Virginia.
DeSipio, Louis. 2013. “Immigration Reforms from the Perspective of the Target of Reform: Immigrant Generation and Latino Policy Preferences on Immigration Reform.” In Gary P. Freeman, Randall Hansen, and David L. Leal, eds. Immigration and Public Opinion in Liberal Democracies, pp. 335-358. New York: Routledge.
DeSipio, Louis. 2007. “Power in the Pews? Religious Diversity and Latino Political Attitudes and Behaviors.” In J. Matthew Wilson, ed. From Pews to Polling Places: Faith and Politics in the American Religious Mosaic, pp. 161-184. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 2013. “From Naturalized Citizen to Voter: The Context of Naturalization and Electoral Participation in Latino Communities.” In David L. Leal and José E. Limón, eds. Immigration and the Border Politics and Policy in the New Latino Century, pp. 149-181. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
de la Garza, Rodolfo O., and Louis DeSipio, eds. 2004. Muted Voices: Latinos and the 2000 Elections. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
DeSipio, Louis. 2013. “Latino Naturalization in Comparative Perspective.” In Ilan Stavans, ed. Oxford Bibliographies in Latino Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
de la Garza, Rodolfo O. and Louis DeSipio, eds. 1996. Ethnic Ironies: Latino
Politics in the 1992 Elections. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Herzog-Punzenberger, Barbara; Rosita Fibbi; Constanza Vera-Larrucea; Louis DeSipio; and John Mollenkopf. 2012. “Citizenship and Participation.” In Maurice Crul and John Mollenkopf, eds. The Changing Face of World Cities, pp. 183-205. New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press.
DeSipio, Louis, and James R. Henson. 2008. “Coverage of Latino Political Issues in 40 General Market Daily Newspapers Nationwide: 1989.” In Federico Subervi-Vélez, ed. The Mass Media and Latin Politics: Studies of U.S. Media Content, Campaign Strategies, and Survey Research, 1984-2004, pp. 219-236. New York: Routledge.
Schneider, Jens; Leo Chávez; Louis DeSipio; and Mary Waters. 2012. “Belonging.” In Maurice Crul and John Mollenkopf, eds. The Changing Face of World Cities, pp. 206-234. New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press.
de la Garza, Rodolfo O.; Martha Menchaca; and Louis DeSipio, eds.
1994. Barrio Ballots: Latino Politics in the 1990 Election. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press.
DeSipio, Louis. 2011. “Drawing New Lines in the Sand: Evaluating the Failure of Immigration Reforms from 2006 to the Beginning of the Obama Administration.” In Kim Voss and Irene Bloemraad, eds. Rallying for Immigrant Rights: The Fight for Inclusion in 21st Century America, pp. 215-232. Berkeley, University of California Press.
de la Garza, Rodolfo O., and Louis DeSipio. 1998. "Interests not
Passions: Mexican American Attitudes toward Mexico, Immigration from Mexico,
and Issues Shaping U.S.-Mexico Relations." International Migration Review
32 (2) (Summer): 401-422.
DeSipio, Louis. 2011. “A Return to a National Origin Preference? Mexican Immigration and the Principles Guiding U.S. Immigration Policy.” Perspectives on Politics 9 (3) (September): 567-569.
DeSipio, Louis, and James Richard Henson. 1997. "Cuban Americans,
Latinos, and the Print Media: Shaping Ethnic Identities."
Press/Politics 2 (3): 52-70.
DeSipio, Louis. 2011. “Immigrant Incorporation in an Era of Weak Civic Institutions: Immigrant Civic and Political Participation in the United States.” American Behavioral Scientist 55 [9] [September]: 1189-1213.
DeSipio, Louis. 1996. "Making Citizens or Good Citizens? Naturalization
as a Predictor of Organizational and Electoral Behavior Among
Latino Immigrants." Hispanic Journal of Behavioral
Sciences 18 (2) (May): 194-213.
DeSipio, Louis; Natalie Masuoka, and Christopher Stout. 2008. Asian American Immigrants as the New Electorate: Exploring Turnout and Registration of a Growing Community,” Asian American Policy Review XVII: 51-71.
DeSipio, Louis; Manuel Garcia y Griego; and Sherri Kossoudji, eds. 2007. Researching Migration: Stories from the Field. New York: Social Science Research Council.
DeSipio, Louis. 2018. "Will Trump’s Immigration Plan Be Successful?” Inter-American Dialogue Latin American Advisor. February.
Professional Societies
American Political Science Association
Other Experience
President
Western Political Science Association 2015—2016
Research Centers
Center for the Study of Democracy
Last updated
01/29/2020