UC Riverside

This dissertation examines the role of the U.S. Spanish-language media environment in connecting state lawmakers to the interests and preferences held by their Hispanic constituents. The presence and absence of Spanish-language media affects levels of political knowledge among U.S. Hispanics, and the degree to which state legislators engage in the media entrepreneurial activities that link them to their constituents and to other policymakers. As a representational link between lawmakers and U.S. Latinos, the Spanish-language media facilitate a "home style" of representation of U.S. Hispanics that contributes to the development of Hispanic policy agendas in the U.S. states.