Using Puerto Rican politics in New York City as a case study, particularly focusing on political elites, Puerto Rican Identity, Political Development, and Democracy in New York, 1960-1990 argues that ethnic identity is a positive force in political development. José E. Cruz suggests that in using ethnic identity to claim and exercise social and civil rights, to pursue representation, and to access resources and benefits, Puerto Ricans sustained and enriched liberal democracy in New York City. This book shows how in carrying out politics in this way, Puerto Rican political elites placed themselves out of the margins and into the mainstream of city politics as significant contributors to urban democracy.

José E. Cruz is a professor in the Political Science Department at University at Albany, State University of New York . He is the author of Liberalism and Identity Politics (2019) and Puerto Rican Identity (2017).

Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Puerto Rican New York in Context
Chapter 2 - Out of the Margins
Chapter 3 - 1960-1965: Out of the Political Game?
Chapter 4 - 1966-1969: A Little Bit of Everything
Chapter 5 - 1970-1972: La Comunidad en Marcha?
Chapter 6 - 1973-1979: Despite Everything, We are In
Chapter 7 - 1980-1985: If There Were More of Us
Chapter 8 - 1986-1990: Déjà Vu All Over Again
Chapter 9 - Decades End
Bibliography
About the Author