Why Did Proposition 227 Pass?

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Research Workshop on Proposition 227 and Its Implementation, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California-San Diego, January 13, 1999. I thank Wayne Cornelius for inviting me to write this paper, conference participants and panelists for their comments and questions about my presentation, Jonathan Nagler and the Alvarez and Nagler Political Research Group for the use of their exit poll data from the June 1998 primary election, and Tara L. Butterfield for her assistance on related research projects. The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation provided some financial assistance for this project.