HEPS³ - Mariaelisa Epifanio- Felon re-enfranchisement, race, and law enforcementWe welcome Mariaelisa Epifanio (University of Liverpool) on February 1st 2023
1 February 2023
The Hamburg Empirical Political Science Seminar Series (HEPS³) features international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in empirical political science and political economy.
We welcome on February 1st 2023, 17:00-18:30 CET in VMP9 S27 & via Zoom
Mariaelisa Epifanio (University of Liverpool) - Title: Felon re-enfranchisement, race, and law enforcement
(with Riccardo Di Leo (Universidad Carlos III) and Giacomo Damioli (University of Bremen) )
Abstract: We study the effect of felon re-enfranchisement on law enforcement using the staggered introduction of laws that re-enfranchise felons across U.S. states from 2000 to 2020. Using county-level data, we document that re-enfranchisement had a limited effect on the number of arrests of African-Americans. This null result masks significant heterogeneity in the data. As the share of African-Americans increases, re-enfranchisement has a negative effect on arrests. While some categories of arrests are unaffected, drug arrests decrease in counties with high shares of African Americans, and may moderately increase in counties with low shares of Blacks. Felon re-enfranchisement may, to a certain extent, mitigated racial disparities in law enforcement. Ancillary tests highlight the importance of racial factors. We also discuss potential mechanisms behind our findings.
Keywords: Race, law enforcement, arrests, drugs
The HEPS³ seminars take place on wednesdays in the winter semester 2022/2023 in person in VMP9 and are live-streamed on Zoom.
Please find the preliminary program on the HEPS³ Website.
We invite everyone interested to attend and are looking forward to seeing you.