Document Type

Article

Source Publication Title

Urban Affairs Review

DOI

10.1177/10780874231187131

Abstract

In this research note, we investigate the degree to which local governments reduced or expanded the budgets of police departments in the aftermath of the nation-wide protests organized by the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020. We also consider the political and social factors that might explain local councils' decisions on the budget. In analyzing an original dataset of about 100 of the most populous U.S. cities, we do not find strong evidence of government efforts to "defund" the police. However, across various specifications of potential responsiveness to the movement's demands, we do find that mayoral partisanship may be associated with local government decisions to meaningfully reduce their police budgets or abstain from increasing them, but even this relationship may not be sustained in the longer term. Thus, we encourage more research on barriers that potentially inhibit local government responsiveness to social movements like Black Lives Matter.

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Language

English

Comments

Bai Linh Hoang is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Texas - Arlington. She is a scholar of American politics, with an emphasis on race/ethnic politics and urban politics. Andrea Benjamin is an Associate Professor in the Clara Luper Department of African & African American Studies Department at the University of Oklahoma. She is a scholar of American politics, with an emphasis on racial/ethnic politics and urban/local politics.

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