Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP9064
Authors: Graziella Bertocchi; Arcangelo Dimico
Abstract: We evaluate the empirical relevance of de facto vs. de jure determinants of political power in the U.S. South between the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. We apply a variety of estimation techniques to a previously unexploited dataset on voter registration by race covering the counties of Mississippi in 1896, shortly after the introduction of the 1890 voting restrictions encoded in the state constitution. Our results indicate that de jure voting restrictions reduce black registration but that black disfranchisement starts well before 1890 and is more intense where a black majority represents a threat to the de facto power of white elites. Moreover, the effect of race becomes stronger after 1890 suggesting that the de jure barriers may have served the purpose of institutionalizing a de facto condition of disfranchisement.
Keywords: education; inequality; institutions; race; voting
JEL Codes: J15; N41; O43; P16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| de jure voting restrictions (K16) | black voter registration (K16) |
| literacy tests and poll taxes (K16) | black voter registration (K16) |
| black share of the population (J15) | black voter registration (K16) |
| voter registration (K16) | educational policies (I28) |
| voter registration (K16) | economic inequality (D31) |