The American criminal legal system is an important site of political socialization: scholars have shown that criminal legal contact reduces turnout and that criminalization pushes people away from public institutions more broadly. Despite this burgeoning literature, few analyses directly investigate the causal effect of lower-level police contact on voter turnout. To do so, we leverage individual-level administrative ticketing data from Hillsborough County, Florida. We show that traffic stops materially decrease participation for Black and non-Black residents alike. Although stops reduce turnout more for Black voters in the short term, they are less demobilizing over a longer time horizon. Although even low-level contacts with the police can reduce political participation across the board, our results point to a unique process of political socialization vis-à-vis the carceral state for Black Americans.
In the aftermath of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders by the police, we know now it is not the...
An interactive map documenting efforts to build cop city training complexes around the US, including a spreadsheet with relevant information....
This edition updates those findings through the 2022-23 school year with analysis of 372 assaults and includes additional data points,...
We showcase existing solutions and new research from the community. Support us by sharing your own resources to our hub.
