Conventional wisdom has it that ethnic politicians such as Pastore were part of a phenomenon that began in 1928. Many newer immigrants began to vote Democratic in that year, attracted first by Alfred E. Smith’s presidential candidacy and then by the Democrats’ New Deal policies and promotion of ethnic interests. Studies of Rhode Island generally agree that the Italians and French Canadians did not join the Irish in the Democratic party until the late 1920s. Before then those who voted favored the Republican party, despite its poor record on workers’ rights, because it controlled state politics and had plenty of patronage to distribute.

Stefano Luconi uses a study of Providence to test this argument by asking whether Italian Americans began voting Democratic earlier than 1928 and which factors determined their electoral choices. He challenges conventional wisdom by arguing that a majority was voting Democratic by 1916 because that party outdid its rival in awarding them public sector jobs and nominating them for office. Even though Democrats had limited access to patronage and their candidates often lost until the party seized control of state politics in 1935, Luconi maintains, their efforts at recognition were enough to win the Italian American vote. With few exceptions, this constituency continued to vote Democratic until 1948 in gratitude for its “political plums” (p. 12), despite periodic frustration with the national administration’s policies toward Italy.

Luconi’s original argument has important implications for the study of ethnic politics in this era. Unfortunately, this slim volume fails to explore the broader significance of his findings and instead focuses exclusively on Providence. Despite meticulous research in local and national archives, evidence for the earlier years of the study is somewhat thin. One of the strongest pieces of documentation, a table showing how Italian Americans voted in presidential and gubernatorial elections, is buried at the end of the book. Presenting this more prominently and adding tables documenting voting results in selected local elections would have strengthened Luconi’s interesting argument, as would a brief discussion of what happened after 1948. Finally, in his eagerness to test the effects of ethnic recognition and foreign policy on voting, Luconi has given short shrift to other factors such as each party’s position on workers’ rights, cultural pluralism, and the Great Depression. Despite its limits, this book will be of interest to Rhode Island historians and scholars of ethnic politics during this pivotal era.

--Evelyn Savidge Sterne, University of Rhode Island