Can Incarcerated Felons Be (Re)integrated into the Political System? Results from a Field Experiment

How does America's high rate of incarceration shape political participation? Few studies have examined the direct effects of incarceration on patterns of political engagement. Answering this question is particularly relevant for the 93% of formerly incarcerated individuals who are eligible to v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of political science 2015-10, Vol.59 (4), p.912-926
Main Authors: Gerber, Alan S., Huber, Gregory A., Meredith, Marc, Biggers, Daniel R., Hendry, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Control groups
Criminal justice
Criminal punishment
Criminal sentencing
Disenfranchisement
Felons
Imprisonment
Political participation
Voter registration
Voting
Voting behavior
Voting rights
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Summary:How does America's high rate of incarceration shape political participation? Few studies have examined the direct effects of incarceration on patterns of political engagement. Answering this question is particularly relevant for the 93% of formerly incarcerated individuals who are eligible to vote. Drawing on new administrative data from Connecticut, we present evidence from afield experiment showing that a simple informational outreach campaign to released felons can recover a large proportion of the reduction in participation observed following incarceration. The treatment effect estimates imply that efforts to reintegrate released felons into the political process can substantially reduce the participatory consequences of incarceration.
ISSN:0092-5853
1540-5907
DOI:10.1111/ajps.12166