Estimating Disenfranchisement in US Elections, 1870–1970

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6320530
AutoresThomas Gray (0000-0003-0281-4123, The University of Texas at Dallas), Thomas R Gray, J A Jenkins (0000-0001-7426-3370, University of Southern California)
Ano2025
Volume23
Fascículo1
Páginas55-75
Data de publicação2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPerspectives on Politics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1537-5927 • E-ISSN: 1541-0986
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1537592724000859
OpenAlexW4398249406
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas29

While it is commonly understood that the poll tax and literacy tests, among other measures, were used effectively in the South to disenfranchise Black voters from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century, what is not well known is how much those disenfranchising laws mattered. Specifically, how much did the enactment of poll taxes or literacy tests affect turnout in federal and state elections? And how much did those disenfranchising provisions dampen vote totals for Republican candidates in the South? Using the staggered implementation and removal of several disenfranchising policies over a 101-year period, we answer these questions and provide some precision to our collective knowledge of the “disenfranchising era” in American electoral politics. Overall, we find that the poll tax was the main driver of disenfranchisement in Southern elections, with literacy tests and the Australian ballot providing some secondary effects. We also find that ex-felon disenfranchisement laws were considerably more important—both in reducing turnout as well as Republican vote share in Southern elections—than has been traditionally understood. Finally, we unpack the “South” and unsurprisingly find that racial politics drove these results: the disenfranchising institutions were more impactful in states with a larger Black population share. Our results show the powerful effects of disenfranchising policies on electorates and electoral outcomes. We discuss these results in both their historical context as well as with a mind to the continuing use of disenfranchising provisions in law today

Econometrics · Economics · Political science · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Social Policy and Reform Studies