• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Study Finds Expanding Voting Rights Can Reduce Violence

by DC Editors - October 17, 2022

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Study Finds Expanding Voting Rights Can Reduce ViolenceFrom Eurekalert:

A new paper in the Journal of the European Economic Association, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that the extension of voting rights can reduce political violence. The researcher finds this by looking at the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Political scientists have long debated the effect of enfranchisement on violence and political outcomes. In theory, the extension of voting rights to a historically disenfranchised group has great power to reduce the potential for violence, since voting offers a channel for those dissatisfied with the status quo to express disapproval and pick new officeholders. “Give us the ballot, and we will transform the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens,” said Martin Luther King in his historic speech before the Lincoln Memorial in 1957. Malcolm X expressed a related sentiment in a speech he gave in Cleveland in 1964.

But the extension of voting rights also shifts political equilibria. Such changes may increase elites’ incentives to compensate for their loss of power with political violence. People with new voting power may also turn to violence if they do not see the benefits they expected from enfranchisement.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965. This changed the political alignment of the United States dramatically, but its impact on political violence is debatable. Certainly, political violence in the country appeared quite salient throughout the 1960s, as Americans witnessed several assassinations and riots erupted throughout the decade, in cities including Birmingham, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Atlanta. Riots occurred in more than 100 U.S. cities alone on the night King was assassinated.

The Voting Rights Act prohibited discrimination in voting, but all jurisdictions were not covered equally by changes due to the law. The act required covered jurisdictions to suspend any practices limiting registration, obtain federal preclearance before any change in voting practices, and in many cases federal officials came to register new voters in their county.

But counties altered due to the changes imposed by the Voting Rights Act were often located adjacent to (otherwise similar) counties that could continue on as before. The researcher here compared data on political violence between covered counties and non-covered counties on either side of the border in the years following 1965.

The researcher found that Voting Rights Act halved both the number of instances of actual political violence and the likelihood that new waves of political violence would break out. Additional results show that in counties covered by the Act, citizens voted to voice their political views whereas in other counties citizens continued to use violence. This effect mainly appeared to result from a change in political strategies rather than changes in policies and in the economic situation of citizens.

“In the current context of increasing discontent with democracy, understanding the voting-violence nexus is of extreme relevance,” said the paper’s author, Jean Lacroix. “Multiple countries still discriminate access to voting. Ending such policies could incentivize all citizens to engage more with voting and to rely less on violence as political action.”

The paper, “Ballots instead of bullets? The effect of the Voting Rights Act on political violence,” is available (at five minutes after midnight on October 6th) at: https://academic.oup.com/jeea/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/jeea/jvac048.

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: Democracy in America Tagged With: Election Science, Voter Access, Voting Rights Act

About DC Editors

We are your source for news on the all important effort to establish and strengthen democracy across the globe. Our international team with dozens of independent authors are your gateway into the raging struggle for free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States. See our Facebook Page and also follow us on Twitter @demchron.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | AMERICA | Study Finds Expanding Voting Rights Can Reduce Violence

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

In California politics, you must find your inner terminator

By Joe Mathews March 23, 2023

To protect ballot initiatives from continuous opposition, one needs robust endurance and tenacity akin to Schwarzenegger’s.

Harnessing The Power Of Juries

By Jenna Spinelle March 23, 2023

Juries are a democratic institution. They provide an important site for democratic action by citizens and their use should be revived.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Quality Education and Prioritizing Children: Fighting GOP Exploitation

By Jack Jones March 14, 2023

The GOP has turned its back on the educational needs of America’s youth. We need to invest in our children and protect their futures.

Finding the “We” in Civic Engagement

By Jenna Spinelle March 4, 2023

Collective action problems arise for people who want to get things done. Forming functional groups is key to effective civic engagement.

Taking Cues From The American Oligarchy

By Jack Jones February 20, 2023

The more the GOP has become complete obedience to their oligarch masters, the more they are driving the right winged minded fringe.

How california made a polish poet great

By Joe Mathews February 8, 2023

Exiled to Berkeley, Czesław Miłosz explored the margins of alienation, the horrors of his past, and visions of the future.

What Will It Take To Make Democracy More Representative?

By Jenna Spinelle February 8, 2023

Multiple dimensions of identity simultaneously shape pathways to candidacy and representation for all groups seeking a seat.

Courts Off The Deep End, Again

By Andrew Straw February 1, 2023

Closing the courts, shutting down dissent, and violating the rights of whistleblowers. These are not the actions of an open, free society.

The Christian Evangelical Church

By Jack Jones January 22, 2023

I am not against Big Business having a voice, just not all the voices, and especially not an impersonator pretending to speak for God.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

1800s Barbershop Converted To Voting Rights Museum

1800s Barbershop Converted To Voting Rights Museum

March 16, 2023

El Paso’s Project XV Museum, Texas’ first voting rights museum, has been built over the last year by David Strother, a barbershop owner.

Russian Wagner Boss Acknowledges Comparison With Rasputin

Russian Wagner Boss Acknowledges Comparison With Rasputin

January 30, 2023

Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to comparisons [with]…Rasputin who treated the son of the last tsar for haemophilia.

ChatGPT Is Changing Education, AI Experts Say

ChatGPT Is Changing Education, AI Experts Say

January 30, 2023

Newly-launched AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT is changing the internet landscape. It presents several opportunities, including in education.

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

January 26, 2023

The workshop assisted Girl Scouts in grades K–10 in earning their Democracy Badge through learning activities on democracy.

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

January 26, 2023

Sharing personal experiences and pairing them with facts reduces political dehumanization and increases political tolerance.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy