Locked Out Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy

by Manza, Jeff; Uggen, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780195149326
• ISBN10: 0195149327
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780190207526
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-30
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

5.4 million Americans--1 in every 40 voting age adults-- are denied the right to participate in democratic elections because of a past or current felony conviction. In several American states, 1 in 4 black men cannot vote due to a felony conviction. In a country that prides itself onuniversal suffrage, how did the United States come to deny a voice to such a large percentage of its citizenry? What are the consequences of large-scale disenfranchisement--both for election outcomes, and for public policy more generally? Locked Out exposes one of the most important, yet littleknown, threats to the health of American democracy today. It reveals the centrality of racial factors in the origins of these laws, and their impact on politics today. Marshalling the first real empirical evidence on the issue to make a case for reform, the authors' path-breaking analysis willinform all future policy and political debates on the laws governing the political rights of criminals.

Author Biography

Jeff Manza is Professor of Sociology at New York University. Christopher Uggen is Distinguished McKnight Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(218)
1 Foundations	11	(30)
2 The Racial Origins of Felon Disenfranchisement with Angela Behrens	41	(28)
3 The Disenfranchised Population	69	(26)
4 The Contemporary Disenfranchisement Regime	95	(18)
5 Political Attitudes, Voting, and Criminal Behavior	113	(24)
6 Disenfranchisement and Civic Reintegration: Felons Speak Out with Angela Behrens	137	(28)
7 The Impact of Disenfranchisement on Political Participation	165	(16)
8 A Threat to Democracy?	181	(24)
9 Public Opinion and Felon Disenfranchisement with Clem Brooks	205	(16)
10 Unlocking the Vote	221	(14)
Appendix	235	(56)
Notes	291	(62)
Index	353