Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas
About
Andrea Silva is an assistant professor of political science at the University of North Texas (UNT) and an affiliated faculty member with UNT's Latino/Mexican American Studies Department. Her research interests include US immigration politics, Latino/Latina politics, congressional representation, and racial and ethnic politics in the US. She holds a doctoral degree in political science from the University of California, Riverside, an MA from Illinois State University, a BA from Loyola Marymount University, and was a former Peace Corps Volunteer.
Current Work:
Dr. Silva's current book project reflects the overarching theme of her research agenda, studying how people of color and non-citizens participate in the policy process, civically, socially, or politically. This book explores state immigration policy according to policy type. Entitled "Direct Democracy Rules: How Initiatives and Referendums Affect State Immigration Policy," Silva takes a disaggregated look at state immigration policies using both qualitative and quantitative methods. She builds on investigations of state immigration policy that classify legislation policy as generally restrictive or permissive. By exploring state immigration legislation thematically, she argues that context and institutions influence the creation of state immigration policies. She undertakes these analyses thematically, comparing similar states on their different outcomes regarding in-state tuition and driver's license legislation policies.
Research Area Keyword(s):
immigration, latino politics, state and local politics, federalism, representation
