Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 September 2006
Recent census estimates place the percentage of Americans who are of Latino/Hispanic origin at more than 14%, up from 12.5% in the 2000 census. Despite comprising this large and increasing proportion of the population, Latinos continue to be severely underrepresented in the discipline. Today Latinos comprise fewer than 2% of all political scientists in the United States. This significant under-representation reflects the many barriers that continue to exist in terms of educational attainment among Latinos. In turn, our discipline is impacted by this trend as our ability to adequately assess the political incorporation and impact of this increasingly important minority population is seriously limited.