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The Opinion-Mobilizing Effect of Social Protest against Police Violence: Evidence from the 2020 George Floyd Protests

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  • RENY, TYLER T.
  • NEWMAN, BENJAMIN J.

Abstract

Does social protest following the police killing of unarmed Black civilians have a widespread “opinion-mobilizing” effect against the police? Or, does the racialized nature of these events polarize mass opinion based on standing racial and political orientations? To answer these questions, we use a large dataset comprised of weekly cross sections of the American public and employ a regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) approach leveraging the random timing of the police killing of George Floyd and ensuing nationwide protests. We find that the Floyd protests swiftly decreased favorability toward the police and increased perceived anti-Black discrimination among low-prejudice and politically liberal Americans. However, attitudes among high-prejudice and politically conservative Americans either remained unchanged or evinced only small and ephemeral shifts. Our evidence suggests that the Floyd protests served to further racialize and politicize attitudes within the domain of race and law enforcement in the U.S.

Suggested Citation

  • Reny, Tyler T. & Newman, Benjamin J., 2021. "The Opinion-Mobilizing Effect of Social Protest against Police Violence: Evidence from the 2020 George Floyd Protests," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(4), pages 1499-1507, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:115:y:2021:i:4:p:1499-1507_25
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathon P. Schuldt & Adam R. Pearson, 2023. "Public recognition of climate change inequities within the United States," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(8), pages 1-14, August.
    2. Freitas Monteiro, Teresa & Prömel, Christopher, 2024. "Local far-right demonstrations and nationwide public attitudes toward migration," Discussion Papers 2024/3, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    3. Nägel, Christof & Nivette, Amy, 2023. "The Rodney King incident and verdict revisited: Examining opinion-mobilizing effects using data from Southern California in 1991 and 1992," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Greg Goelzhauser, 2024. "Constitutional accountability for police shootings," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 92-108, March.
    5. IGARASHI Akira & MIWA Hirofumi & ONO Yoshikuni, 2022. "How Do Racial Cues Affect Attitudes toward Immigrants in a Racially Homogeneous Country? Evidence from a survey experiment in Japan," Discussion papers 22091, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    6. Deal, Cameron, 2022. "Bound by Bostock: The effect of policies on attitudes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    7. Adams, Ian T. & Mourtgos, Scott M. & Nix, Justin, 2023. "Turnover in large US policing agencies following the George Floyd protests," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. CARR, Joel, 2022. "BLM protests and racial hate crime in the United States," Working Papers 2022008, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    9. Nupia Martínez, Oscar & Álvarez Gallo, Carlos Andrés, 2024. "The Impact of Massive Protests on Individual Attitudes," Documentos CEDE 21190, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    10. Eric Kaufmann, 2022. "The new culture wars: Why critical race theory matters more than cancel culture," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(4), pages 773-788, July.
    11. Michelle L. Larkins, 2024. "Introduction: practicing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in environmental studies and sciences," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(3), pages 443-451, September.
    12. Kennedy K. Mabuku & Adewale A. Olutola, 2022. "Preservation of internal security in Namibia: Challenges for the Namibian Police Force," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(10), pages 386-397, December.
    13. Campbell, Travis, 2024. "Black Lives Matter’s effect on police lethal use of force," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    14. Christos Mavridis & Orestis Troumpounis & Maurizio Zanardi, 2022. "Protests and Police Militarization," School of Economics Discussion Papers 0122, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    15. Angela Zhou & Andrew Koo & Nathan Kallus & Rene Ropac & Richard Peterson & Stephen Koppel & Tiffany Bergin, 2021. "An Empirical Evaluation of the Impact of New York's Bail Reform on Crime Using Synthetic Controls," Papers 2111.08664, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2023.
    16. Deivis Angeli & Matt Lowe & The Village Team & Matthew Lowe, 2023. "Virtue Signals," CESifo Working Paper Series 10475, CESifo.
    17. Jamila Michener, 2022. "Race, power, and policy: understanding state anti-eviction policies during COVID-19 [Pandemic politics: Timing state-level social distancing responses to COVID-19]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(2), pages 231-246.
    18. Ferdik, Frank & Frogge, George & Cooney, Mikaela, 2022. "Exploring further determinants of citizen satisfaction with the police: The role of strain," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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