Abstract

To date, no study has specifically examined the San Antonio Hispanic population with regard to their support of patients' bill of rights issues. Intuitively, it is felt that Hispanic people's opinions are influenced by opinions expressed by Hispanic leaders. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of support among the San Antonio Hispanic population for the patients' bill of rights legislation, and examine if the ethnicity and/or sex of the political leader has an effect on people's attitudes. The research hypothesis of this study was that the characteristics---specifically the ethnicity and sex---of the political leader influence the public's level of support for specific public policy issues. Variables were the level of support expressed by each subject for the patients' bill of rights proposal, the presumed ethnicity and sex of the political leader, and the ethnicity, sex, insurance coverage, age, and education level of the respondent. The results of this study partially support the research hypothesis. There appeared to be a higher level of support for the bill when respondents believed a Hispanic political leader sponsored the legislation compared to when it was thought a non-Hispanic was the sponsor. Similarly, the legislation appeared to receive greater support by those who believed it to be sponsored by a male political leader than by those who believed the legislation was sponsored by a female political leader. This study concludes that certain characteristics of the political leader---specifically ethnicity and sex---can, among Hispanic people, influence their support of specific public issues