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The Franchise, Policing, and Race: Evidence from Arrests Data and the Voting Rights Act

Author

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  • Facchini, Giovanni
  • Kinght, Brian
  • Testa, Cecilia
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between the franchise and law enforcement practices using evidence from the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. We find that, following the VRA, black arrest rates fell in counties that were both covered by the legislation and had a large number of newly enfranchised black voters. We uncover no corresponding patterns for white arrest rates. The reduction in black arrest rates is driven by less serious offenses, for which police might have more enforcement discretion. Importantly, our results are driven by arrests carried out by sheriffs - who are always elected. While there are no corresponding changes for municipal police chiefs in aggregate, we do find similar patterns in covered counties with elected rather than appointed chiefs. We also show that our findings cannot be rationalized by alternative explanations, such as differences in collective bargaining, changes in the underlying propensity to commit crimes, responses to changes in policing practices, and changes in the suppression of civil right protests. Taken together, these results document that voting rights, when combined with elected, rather than appointed, chief law enforcement officers, can lead to improved treatment of minority groups by police.

Suggested Citation

  • Facchini, Giovanni & Kinght, Brian & Testa, Cecilia, 2020. "The Franchise, Policing, and Race: Evidence from Arrests Data and the Voting Rights Act," CEPR Discussion Papers 14946, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14946
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    1. Kate Antonovics & Brian G. Knight, 2009. "A New Look at Racial Profiling: Evidence from the Boston Police Department," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 163-177, February.
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    14. Desmond Ang, 2019. "Do 40-Year-Old Facts Still Matter? Long-Run Effects of Federal Oversight under the Voting Rights Act," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 1-53, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mastrorocco, Nicola & Ornaghi, Arianna, 2020. "Who Watches the Watchmen? Local News and Police Behavior in the United States," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 500, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    2. Bernini, Andrea & Facchini, Giovanni & Tabellini, Marco & Testa, Cecilia, 2023. "Black Empowerment and White Mobilization: The Effects of the Voting Rights Act," CEPR Discussion Papers 18238, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Kainuma, Shuhei, 2024. "Transition to broader-based politics: The role of suffrage extension in early 20th century Japan," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Kyle Raze, 2022. "Voting rights and the resilience of Black turnout," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1127-1141, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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