Agenda

16 Feb 2026 12:15

Giovanni Facchini (University of Nottingham)

Meeting Room 1, San Giobbe Economics Campus

Giovanni Facchini (University of Nottingham) - Ballot, Badge and Bench: Black Representation in Southern Justice (with Andrea Bernini, Cecilia Testa and Hye Young You)

Abstract:

A distinctive feature of American democracy is the election of law enforcement and judicial officials. Yet the democratic promise of elected justice sits uneasily with enduring racial disparities in the justice system. Despite the importance of these offices, systematic evidence on Black representation remains limited. By compiling the most comprehensive dataset to date, covering all counties in the eleven former Confederate states from 1960 to 2024, we document persistent underrepresentation of African Americans in these positions. We assess competing theories of descriptive representation, emphasizing voter preferences, interest groups, and candidate supply. Early gains were constrained mainly by limited professional pipelines restricting candidate supply. Over time, these constraints eased, alongside increased civil rights mobilization. As a result, Black representation rose markedly following the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement. Our findings highlight how political institutions, structural constraints, and grassroots mobilization jointly shape trajectories of Black representation in elected justice offices.

 

Language

The event will be held in English

Organized by

Department of Economics (EcSeminars)

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