Political Rhetoric and Racial Discrimination in Arrests for Drugs

Francesco Barilari and Diego Zambiasi

The Economic Journal, 2026, vol. 136, issue 674, 468-506

Abstract: This paper examines how political rhetoric shapes law enforcement behaviour. We analyse monthly arrest data from 1,420 police agencies across thirty-eight US states between January 1981 and December 1992, a period when US presidents intensified anti-drug messaging, particularly targeting crack cocaine, which the media disproportionately linked to Black communities. We construct a novel measure of national rhetoric intensity and show that it received greater coverage in local newspapers in counties where Republicans and Democrats had comparable support, using this differential media exposure as a proxy for local susceptibility to the rhetoric. Our findings reveal that greater exposure to this rhetoric led to a significant rise in drug possession arrests among Black individuals, with no corresponding increase for White individuals, thereby widening racial disparities in arrests.

Date: 2026
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