Why are Latinos More Politically Trusting than Other Americans?

Abstract

This paper examines why Latinos, over the past thirty years, are consistently more trusting of the federal government than are Anglos and Blacks. We address this puzzle by turning to previous research on racial politics and political trust. Consistent with previous research, discrimination and generational status are important predictors of Latinos' levels of political trust, with first generation Latinos more trusting than later generation Latinos. Encounters with racial discrimination also make Latinos and Blacks less trusting of government. In contrast, Anglos' levels of political trust can be explained by their economic evaluations as well as their partisanship. While these findings are insightful, they do not directly address why inter-group differences arise when it comes to their trust in government. We argue that, combined with generational distinctions amongst Latinos in their levels of trust, the heavy flow of Latino immigration in the past thirty years has changed the Latino population in such a way that the views of the foreign-born are disproportionately represented in survey questions related to trust in government. This is producing a Latino population that is more inclined to trust government than Anglos or Blacks. We then examine the impact of political trust on individuals' opinions towards redistributive policies. Political trust has a strong and positive effect on Latinos' attitudes towards such policies. These findings have important implications for the future of public opinion and redistributive policy-making in the U.S.