Sixty Years of the Voting Rights Act: Progress and Pitfalls

Andrea Bernini, Giovanni Facchini, Marco Tabellini and Cecilia Testa

No 1035, Economics Series Working Papers from University of Oxford, Department of Economics

Abstract: We review the literature on the effects of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), which removed formal restrictions to Black political participation. After a brief description of racial discrimination suffered by Black Americans since Reconstruction, we introduce the goals that the VRA was meant to achieve. Next, we discuss the local level impact of the law on political participation and representation, on public goods provision and policing practices, and on labor market outcomes. We then turn to whites’ reactions, from political realignment to electoral counter-mobilization to changes in voting rules and arrests patterns. We conclude by discussing how the evidence reviewed in this article can inform policy-making and the design of legislation aimed at reducing racial discrimination and inequality.

Date: 2024-02-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-his, nep-pol and nep-ure
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Journal Article: Sixty years of the Voting Rights Act: progress and pitfalls (2024)
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