Sr. Ronald Schmidt – författare

"The authors have done a commendable and impressive job of addressing a topic of long-lasting and increasing significance in U.S. politics." ---F. Chris Garcia, University of New Mexico

"This is a path-breaking book that will be read across disciplines beyond political science." ---James Jennings, Tufts University

Over the past four decades, the United States has experienced the largest influx of immigrants in its history. Not only has the ratio of European to non-European newcomers changed, but the numbers of recent arrivals from the Asian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, South America, and other regions are increasing.

In this timely study, a team of political scientists examines how the arrival of these newcomers has affected the efforts of long-standing U.S. minority groups---Blacks, Latinos, and Asian Pacific Americans---to gain equality through greater political representation and power. The authors predict that, for some time to come, the United States will function as a complex multiracial hierarchy, rather than as a genuine democracy.

Ronald Schmidt, Sr. is Professor of Political Science at California State University, Long Beach.

Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh is Associate Professor of Political Science and Dean of the Office for Women''s Affairs (OWA) at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Andrew L. Aoki is Professor of Political Science at Augsburg College.

Rodney E. Hero is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Few subjects of social scientific inquiry need interpretive analysis more than the topic of racial politics, yet most US political science employs a narrowly behavioralist orientation. This book argues that it is time for political scientists studying race to more fully engage the issues that generate its political significance.

Drawing on the work of interpretive political scholars and methods, Ron Schmidt, Sr. addresses core questions regarding racial politics in the US to demonstrate the value of using interpretive methods to better understand the meaning and significance of political actions, structures and conflicts involving racial identities—not instead of behavioral research but as a necessary addition.

Interpreting Racial Politics in the United States will greatly enhance the evolving conversations concerning race and inequality within the US. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of politics and sociology, but also to those interested in deepening their understanding of racial politics.