Opportunities for Legislative Influence? Latinos and Committee Participation in the U.S. Congress

Abstract

In this article, I look at how differences in committee participation help further explain the way Latinos are represented in Congress. I examine levels of participation in four committees in the House of Representatives for the 109th–112th Congresses. I find that Latino committee members participate at greater levels when high Latino saliency legislation is considered, but overall they do not engage in greater committee activity compared to non-Latino members. I also find that a higher percentage of Latinos in a district leads to greater levels of activity among committee members, especially when considering high Latino saliency bills. The results show that Latinos receive substantive representation in committees via district composition, but that descriptive representation is relative and not absolute. These findings may speak to the continued lack of Latino institutional power and the tradeoffs Latino members must consider when deciding where and when to invest legislative effort. Furthermore, the results underscore the importance of institutional context in assessing the link between descriptive and substantive representation.