This innovative book investigates the process through which ethnic minorities penetrate into higher echelons of political power: specifically, how they succeed in getting elected to the U.S. Congress. Analysts today see ethnic politicians largely in relation to their collectivities, but by actually studying what ethnic minority politicians "do" and the issues they have faced, Jimenez's book offers an original perspective of analysis.

Jimenez utilizes a ground-breaking comparative dataset of elected members of Congress organized upon the basis of national origin, the first available....