Political Rhetoric and Racial Discrimination in Arrests for Drugs

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Barilari, Francesco; Zambiasi, Diego
• 署名单位: University of Rome Tor Vergata; Newcastle University - UK
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueaf055
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: motor-vehicle searches; crack cocaine; COMPETITION; cops; BIAS; text

摘要

This paper examines how political rhetoric shapes law enforcement behaviour. We analyse monthly arrest data from 1,420 police agencies across thirty-eight US states between January 1981 and December 1992, a period when US presidents intensified anti-drug messaging, particularly targeting crack cocaine, which the media disproportionately linked to Black communities. We construct a novel measure of national rhetoric intensity and show that it received greater coverage in local newspapers in counties where Republicans and Democrats had comparable support, using this differential media exposure as a proxy for local susceptibility to the rhetoric. Our findings reveal that greater exposure to this rhetoric led to a significant rise in drug possession arrests among Black individuals, with no corresponding increase for White individuals, thereby widening racial disparities in arrests.