 Badge of Courage or Sign of Criminality? Experimental Evidence for How Voters Respond to Candidates Who Were Arrested at a ProtestKaren O. Caballero Armendariz, Ben Farrer and Monica Martinez Social Science Quarterly, 2020, vol. 101, issue 6, 2203-2219 Abstract: Objective To test whether political activists who are arrested at a protest will subsequently be more or less able to successfully run for office. Methods We use a conjoint survey experiment conducted on Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform. Participants are asked to choose between hypothetical candidates, with a protest arrest randomly added to the description of one candidate. We also vary the group that organized the protest, the demographics of the candidate, how much time has passed since the protest, and the seriousness of the arrest charge. Results We find left‐leaning voters can see a protest arrest as an asset, if it occurred at a left‐wing protest. Right‐leaning voters are less tolerant of protest arrests though, especially if the candidate is black or if the protest was recent. Conclusion We conclude that activists with electoral ambitions should weigh the risks of arrest carefully, especially if they are black or will need to appeal to right‐leaning electorates. Date: 2020 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:101:y:2020:i:6:p:2203-2219 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association |
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