Which Lives Matter?: Factors Shaping Public Attention to and Protest of Officer-Involved Killings

This Element explores the factors that lead the public to pay attention to and mobilize in support of victims of officer-involved killings. The author argues that race is the most important factor shaping both attention and mobilization. Black victims are statistically significantly more likely to trend on Google and get protested than victims of other races. Deaths of low threat Black victims are more likely to affect political interest, voter turnout, and protest rates, and only among young Black observers. This Element attributes this pattern to the fact that mobilization around officer-involved killings is responding to anti-Black discrimination, rather than general sentiments about police violence. It also finds that the local density of social justice organizations increases political mobilization.

Author: Traci Burch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 10/05/2023
Pages: 75
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.27lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.17d
ISBN13: 9781108987295
ISBN10: 110898729X
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | American Government | General