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This article focuses on how the ability to speak and read English affects Latino citizens' participation in U.S. elections, and evaluates the extent to which this language barrier might be overcome by living in a community with a relatively large Latino population and having access to registration materials and ballots in Spanish. Using data primarily from the Pew Hispanic Center, we find that the inability to speak and read English hinders registration and turnout among Latino citizens. While the language barrier to turnout is mitigated by several factors, the barrier to registration is more intractable. These results have implications for researchers and practitioners interested in the political participation of this increasingly prominent group. In particular, understanding the role of English proficiency is a critical first step in thinking about policy prescriptions that will bring into the political process a growing number of Latino citizens, particularly those with limited English skills.Este estudio se enfoca en cómo las habilidades de hablar y leer el ingles afectan la participación de ciudadanos latinos en las elecciones estadounidenses, y evalúa la medida en que esta barrera del idioma podría ser superada viviendo en una comunidad con una población latina relativamente grande y teniendo acceso a materiales de registro electoral y boletas en español. Usando datos principalmente del Pew Hispanic Center, encontramos que la baja habilidad para hablar y leer en inglés obstaculiza el registro y participación entre ciudadanos de origen latino. Mientras que la barrera del lenguaje para ejercer el derecho al voto es mitigada al vivir en una comunidad con una población latina relativamente grande y con acceso a boletas bilingües, la barrera para inscribirse en el registro de electores es más restrictiva. Estos resultados tienen implicaciones para investigadores, practicantes, y legisladores interesados en la participación política de este grupo cada vez más prominente de electores. Entender el papel del dominio de el inglés es, particularmente, un primer paso crítico para pensar recetas de políticas que incorporen en el proceso político un creciente número de ciudadanos latinos, especialmente aquellos con un limitado dominio del idioma inglés.

Modern developed nations are rich and politically stable in part because their citizens are free to form organizations and have access to the relevant legal resources. Yet in spite of the advantages of open access to civil organizations, it is estimated that eighty percent of people live in countries that do not allow unfettered access. Why have some countries disallow the formation of organizations as part of their economic and political system? The contributions to Organizations, Civil Society, and the Roots of Development seek to answer this question through an exploration of how developing nations throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, made the transition to allowing their citizens the right to form organizations. The transition, contributors show, was not an easy one. Neither political changes brought about by revolution nor subsequent economic growth led directly to open access. In fact, initial patterns of change were in the opposite direction, as political coalitions restricted access to specific organizations for the purpose of maintaining political control. Ultimately, however, it became clear that these restrictions threatened the foundation of social and political order. Tracing the path of these modern civil societies, Organizations, Civil Society, and the Roots of Development is an invaluable contribution to all interested in today's developing countries and the challenges they face in developing this organizational capacity