As the Latin@ population of the United States grows and the “Sleeping Giant” is expected to play a more significant role in the nation’s elections and governance more attention must be paid to the factors influencing Latin@ public opinion and political behavior on a myriad of issues. While there is a growing literature addressing Latin@ partisanship and opinion on issues such as morality and social welfare programs, there is a dearth of information regarding their opinion on foreign affairs and policy outside of Latin America. We review the limited studies that exist examining Latin@ opinion on policy issues and then explain why this can and will matter in Latin@ voting behavior and finally, using data from the 2006 Pew Hispanic Center survey on Latin@s and Religion in the U.S., we explain how such factors as religion, country of origin and ideology influence Latin@ public opinion on foreign affairs demonstrating a need for much greater study in this area.
INSTITUTO FRANKLIN - UAH