Ballot, badge and bench: Black representation in Southern justice and enforcement

The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 significantly increased Black political representation in local governments across the U.S. South. However, its impact on the racial makeup of the justice system – where sheriffs, prosecutors, and judges are often elected – remains less understood. 

Using a newly compiled dataset of elected law enforcement officials across 11 Southern states from 1960 to 2024, the speaker shows that gains in Black representation were initially limited, even in VRA-covered counties with large Black populations. To explain this pattern, he evaluates three mechanisms: 

• Voter preferences.
• Candidate supply.
• White backlash. 

He finds that:

• African Americans were rarely elected to judicial and law enforcement offices, even in majority-Black counties
• the supply of qualified Black candidates did not expand significantly after the VRA, and
• white voter mobilization likely dampened gains. 

However, his long-run analysis reveals more substantial increases in Black representation in recent years, driven by both an expanded supply of Black lawyers and law enforcement professionals.

This event will be particularly useful to researchers, policy makers, students and anyone who is interested in quantitative social science.

Related links

• QSS and CLS seminar series
• Quantitative Social Science
• Centre for Longitudinal Studies
• Social Research Institute

Image

Roman Koester via Unsplash.