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A wave of recent academic evidence makes clear that combating voter suppression would have a direct, positive impact on the economy.
THREAD!
THREAD!
Despite high turnout in 2020, it's likely that, like nearly every election before it, low/mod income (LMI) Americans and Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) voted at lower rates than White, high-income ones (We won’t know exact numbers until spring Census survey on voting)
This is by design of course. US makes it harder to vote than most developed nations in order to disenfranchise low-income Americans & Americans of color. These barriers are compounded by structural racism in the criminal justice system & labor market. https://equitablegrowth.org/how-combating-voter-suppression-can-help-close-the-economic-divides-between-black-and-white-americans-and-spur-u-s-economic-growth/
We also know that non-voters, who skew lower income, tend to be more supportive of unions, higher government spending, and greater redistribution from rich to poor.
It turns out that expanding access to the ballot box to this previously sidelined group can be economically transformational...
. @equitablegrowth grantees @eastbayabhay @BerkeleyLaw & Avenancio-León @KelleySchool find 1965 Voting Rights Act led to
voting among Black Americans and fairer allocation of public sector jobs & gov’t resources, substantially reducing Black-White wage gap https://equitablegrowth.org/voting-rights-equal-economic-progress-the-voting-rights-act-and-u-s-economic-inequality/
voting among Black Americans and fairer allocation of public sector jobs & gov’t resources, substantially reducing Black-White wage gap https://equitablegrowth.org/voting-rights-equal-economic-progress-the-voting-rights-act-and-u-s-economic-inequality/
. @wwfranko @WestVirginiaU finds that housing, healthcare, and wage equity policies are more generous in states that have less divergence in voter turnout between rich and poor https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pop4.17 (paywall), but also covered here: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/5-ways-life-in-america-would-be-better-if-everyone-voted-59560/
But as suppression tactics succeed in blocking LMI & BIPOC Americans’ access to the polls, economic inequality worsens.
Case in point: Shelby County SCOTUS decision effectively nullified major parts of VRA & exacerbated wage gap b/w Black & White workers https://abhayaneja.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/shelbycountyinequality.pdf
Case in point: Shelby County SCOTUS decision effectively nullified major parts of VRA & exacerbated wage gap b/w Black & White workers https://abhayaneja.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/shelbycountyinequality.pdf
Bottom line: Only when LMI & BIPOC citizens gain equal access to the polls, will elected officials interested in getting reelected (read: all of them!) stop catering to the top 1% and start pursuing polices that deliver strong, stable, and broad-based economic growth.
Read more about the connections between #VotingRights & economic inequality in @equitablegrowth’s new report from @AustinClemens2, @LakeShanteal, and me, which features policy recommendations ( #HR1!) and a bunch of world-class researchers, including... https://equitablegrowth.org/research-paper/the-consequences-of-political-inequality-and-voter-suppression-for-u-s-economic-inequality-and-growth/
... @ElizabethRigby, @lkcw09 @Demos_Org, @BrennanCenter, @ProfNateKelly, @Cmwitko, @VerglPolwi, @HannaSchwander, @leighleyjan, @V_Williamson, @snaidunl, @hill_charlotte, @TrevonDLogan, @jhacova, @electionsmith, @MKeithChen, @indigenalysis, and many more.
CC: @DFADCoalition
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CC: @DFADCoalition
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