Jeff Manza, Clem Brooks,
and Christopher Uggen. 2004. "Civil Death or Civil
Rights? Public Attitudes Toward Felon
Disenfranchisement in the
Abstract
This
paper presents experimental survey results about Americans’ attitudes towards
the political disenfranchisement of felons and ex-felons. Two long-term trends
in public opinion provide the backdrop for this investigation: strong (though
variable) public support for conservative anti-crime policies,
and growing public support for civil rights and civil liberties for most major
groups. We find evidence that Americans generally favor providing non-incarcerated felons (those on probation,
parole, and ex-felons who have completed their sentences) with the right to
vote. These results are robust in the face of alternative question wordings. Civil liberties support and a rehabilitative
orientation to punishment significantly raise the likelihood of extending
voting rights to all relevant categories of ex-felons, even when the effects of
age, race, sex, region, residency, education, and ideological identification
are statistically controlled. In
the clash between two different imperatives – a desire to punish and deter
crime versus a desire to promote and protect the civil liberties of unpopular
groups – we find evidence that the latter has greater public support. The paper concludes with a discussion of how these
results might inform the recently emerging debate over felon disenfranchisement
laws.