Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17009
Authors: Federico Ricca; Francesco Trebbi
Abstract: This paper investigates the patterns of Minority representation and voter registration in U.S. municipal governments. For the period 1981-2020, we report substantial levels of strategic underrepresentation of African American, Asian, and Latino voters in U.S. local politics. Disproportionality in the representation and in voter registration rates of Minority groups are widespread, but stronger when racial or ethnic minorities are electorally pivotal. Underrepresentation is determined by the combination of several endogenous institutional features, starting from systematic disparity in voter registration, strategic selection of electoral rules, city’s form of government, council size, and pay of elected members of the council. We provide causal evidence of the strategic use of local political institutions in reducing electoral representation of minorities based on the U.S. Supreme Court narrow decision of Shelby County v. Holder (2013), which deemed unconstitutional Voting Rights Act (VRA) Section 4(b), removing federal preclearance requirements for a specific subset of U.S. jurisdictions.
Keywords: US cities; minority representation; ethnic politics; Voting Rights Act
JEL Codes: P16; P48
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| minority population constituting 55-60% (J15) | minority underrepresentation (J15) |
| minority population constituting about 25% (J15) | prevalence of at-large electoral systems (K16) |
| at-large electoral systems (D79) | dilution of minority votes (K16) |
| minority population constituting 45-50% (J15) | underregistration rates for minorities (J15) |
| Shelby County v. Holder ruling (K16) | minority underrepresentation (J15) |
| Shelby County v. Holder ruling (K16) | voter registration gaps between minorities and whites (K16) |