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Political participation in a violent society: The impact of lynching on voter turnout in the post-Reconstruction South

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  • Jones, Daniel B.
  • Troesken, Werner
  • Walsh, Randall

Abstract

How does violence against a group affect political participation? In theory, the targeted group may either become politically mobilized or may become discouraged and withdraw from political participation. To address this question, we assess the impact of lynchings on differential rates of black turnout in the post-Reconstruction American South. We first provide evidence that lynchings are not politically motivated. We then show that, even though lynchings were not politically motivated, exposure to lynching reduced local black voter turnout by roughly 2.5 percentage points. A series of specification tests suggest this relationship can be interpreted as causal.

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  • Jones, Daniel B. & Troesken, Werner & Walsh, Randall, 2017. "Political participation in a violent society: The impact of lynching on voter turnout in the post-Reconstruction South," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 29-46.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:129:y:2017:i:c:p:29-46
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.08.001
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    2. María Angelica Bautista & Felipe González & Luis R. Martínez & Pablo Munoz & Mounu Prem, 2018. "The Geography of Repression and Support for Democracy: Evidence from the Pinochet Dictatorship," Documentos de Trabajo 17007, Universidad del Rosario.
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    6. Miaari, Sami H. & Loewenthal, Amit & Adnan, Wifag, 2022. "Do Economic Changes Affect the Political Preferences of Arabs in Israel?," IZA Discussion Papers 14988, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Craig Palsson, 2022. "The medium‐run effects of a foreign election intervention: Haiti's presidential elections, 2010–2015," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(2), pages 369-390, April.

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