Leah Christiani | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (original) (raw)
Papers by Leah Christiani
Urban Affairs Review
A frequently proposed “solution” to the problem of racially targeted policing is to diversify the... more A frequently proposed “solution” to the problem of racially targeted policing is to diversify the leadership of a police department, such as instate a Black police chief. However, little is known about how and when such changes may alter policing outcomes. Here, we question whether this descriptive representation leads to a reduction in racial disparities in policing outcomes and how the political and social context may condition that relationship – captured by why a transition took place. To test this, we turn to traffic stop data from nine agencies in Illinois that had variation in chief race between 2004 and 2018. We find that who heads a police department – and why they were appointed (i.e., transition type) – is linked to search rates following a traffic stop, which has implications for work on race and policing, descriptive representation, and local politics.
Investigating whether white perceptions of racial threat are influenced by partisan threat --- an... more Investigating whether white perceptions of racial threat are influenced by partisan threat --- and whether this has an effect on whites' willingness to accept explicit racial appeals.
Studies of racial profiling typically focus on a White/Black or White/minority dichotomy. In this... more Studies of racial profiling typically focus on a White/Black or White/minority dichotomy. In this project, I extend that analysis to multiple racial, gender, and class groups. I use data from every traffic stop that occurred in six states over multiple years, amounting to more than 15 million traffic stops. Using this original and unique dataset, I am able to draw conclusions about the outcomes that individual drivers face as a result of their intersectional racial, gender, and class-based perceived identities. I attribute this phenomenon to widely held stereotypes about social groups, rather than to individually prejudiced police officers. Overall, I find that social groups that are stereotyped as more suspicious receive the harshest treatment from police, while those who are not considered suspicious receive lighter treatment, in the aggregate.
The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Harsh, highly intrusive, personal contact with the criminal justice system has been shown to poli... more Harsh, highly intrusive, personal contact with the criminal justice system has been shown to politically demobilize, but it is unclear whether less intrusive forms of police contact have any political effects. As the modal type of involuntary police–citizen contact is less invasive and more routine (e.g., a traffic stop), it is critical to understand the ramifications of lighter forms of contact. We argue that, unlike harsh police contact, light, personal, police contact can mobilize individuals, under certain circumstances. When a negative encounter with the police—even if it is minor—runs counter to prior expectations, people experiencing the contact are mobilized to take political action. Using 3 years of observational data and an original survey experiment, we demonstrate that individuals who receive tickets or are stopped by the police are more likely to participate in politics. These effects are most pronounced for individuals with positive evaluations of the police, often Whi...
How framing whiteness affects political and racial attitudes
How does exposure to information about the realities of structural inequality influence people... more How does exposure to information about the realities of structural inequality influence people's thinking about democracy?
This study investigates the extent to which asking respondents pre-treatment questions that tap t... more This study investigates the extent to which asking respondents pre-treatment questions that tap their racial attitudes biases their responses to experimental conditions later in the survey.
This pre-registration follows up on studies that have already been conducted to analyze whether a... more This pre-registration follows up on studies that have already been conducted to analyze whether a design element in a survey affects outcomes.
In this survey, I test whether levels of perceived racial threat (induced experimentally) affect ... more In this survey, I test whether levels of perceived racial threat (induced experimentally) affect responses to an explicitly anti-black racial appeal.
Evidence has emerged demonstrating that whites no longer reject negative, explicit racial appeals... more Evidence has emerged demonstrating that whites no longer reject negative, explicit racial appeals as they had in the past. This seeming reversal of the traditional logic of the powerlessness of explicit appeals raises the question: Why are explicit racial appeals accepted sometimes but rejected at other times? Here, I test whether the relative acceptance of negative, explicit racial appeals depends on whites’ feelings of threat using a two-wave survey experiment that manipulates participants’ feelings of threat, and then examines their responses to an overtly racist political appeal. I find that when whites feel threatened, they are more willing to approve of and agree with a negative, explicit racial appeal disparaging African Americans—and express willingness to vote for the candidate who made the explicit racial appeal.
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... more INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 22 I.PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA ........................................................................................ 26 I.DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ............................................................................................... 30 II.DISPARITIES IN SEARCH RATES BY RACE ..................................................................... 31 A. Search Rates Among White Drivers........................................................ 31 B. Search Rates Among Black Drivers ......................................................... 33 C. Search Rates Among Hispanic Drivers .................................................. 35 D. Black-White Search Rate Ratios ............................................................... 37 E. Hispanic-White Search Rate Ratios ......................................................... 39 III.A MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS .....
Politics, Groups, and Identities
Studies of racial profiling typically focus on a White/Black or White/minority dichotomy. In this... more Studies of racial profiling typically focus on a White/Black or White/minority dichotomy. In this project, I extend that analysis to multiple racial, gender, and class groups. I use data from every traffic stop that occurred in six states over multiple years, amounting to more than 15 million traffic stops. Using this original and unique dataset, I am able to draw conclusions about the outcomes that individual drivers face as a result of their intersectional racial, gender, and class-based perceived identities. I attribute this phenomenon to widely held stereotypes about social groups, rather than to individually racist police officers. Overall, I find that social groups that are stereotyped as more suspicious receive the harshest treatment from police, while those who are not considered suspicious receive lighter treatment, in the aggregate. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .
Politics, Groups, and Identities
Racial disparities in citizen interactions with police are ubiquitous concerns in American commun... more Racial disparities in citizen interactions with police are ubiquitous concerns in American communities. What difference does electoral representation make? We demonstrate that black descriptive representation in local government affects police activity and scrutiny in a given community. We use a new dataset comprised of over 79 municipal police departments spanning six states, based on tens of millions of individual-level traffic stops. In cities and towns with majority-black city councils, traffic stops are less likely to result in a search. This decline in search rates affects both white and black drivers, though the decline is larger for black drivers. Even after controlling for socioeconomic factors, segregation, and crime rates, descriptive representation still matters. A city council composed of a majority of black members is associated with important differences in policing, affecting both white and black residents.
The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Racial disparities in traffic stop outcomes are widespread and well documented. Less well underst... more Racial disparities in traffic stop outcomes are widespread and well documented. Less well understood is how racial disparities may be amplified or muted in different contexts. Here we focus on one such situational factor: whether the initial traffic stop was related to a traffic safety violation or a (broadly defined) investigatory purpose. This is a salient contextual characteristic as stop type relates to different levels of assumed discretion and purpose. While all traffic stops involve some officer discretion, investigatory stops are more easily used as justifications to conduct a search based on an officer's diffuse suspicion; traffic safety stops are more often just what they seem. Using millions of traffic stops from several states, we show that black male drivers are more likely to be searched and less likely to be found with contraband and that this relationship is amplified where the initial stop purpose is investigatory. One implication of this is that one path to all...
SSRN Electronic Journal
To contain the spread of COVID-19, experts emphasize the importance of wearing masks Unfortunatel... more To contain the spread of COVID-19, experts emphasize the importance of wearing masks Unfortunately, this practice may put blacks at elevated risk for being see
Policy Studies Journal
We investigate a possible linkage between municipal reliance on fines, fees, and forfeitures as a... more We investigate a possible linkage between municipal reliance on fines, fees, and forfeitures as a revenue source and policing behavior. With a dataset of four million traffic stops made by North Carolina municipalities, we demonstrate that a regular reliance on fines, fees, and forfeitures has powerful, predictable, and racially distinct impacts on black and white drivers, and that fiscal stress exacerbates these differences. A greater regular reliance on fines, fees, and forfeitures is linked to a decrease in the probability of white, but not black, drivers being searched; and increased odds of finding contraband among those white drivers who are searched, but no such change for black drivers. We validate the North Carolina tests with aggregate analyses of municipalities across four states.
In recent years, the United States has witnessed a resurgence in the use of overt references to r... more In recent years, the United States has witnessed a resurgence in the use of overt references to race and identity by politicians. This increase is surprising since previous studies in political communication and racial priming suggest that citizens reject explicit references to race. My dissertation examines why this change has occurred. I propose and find that when members of a dominant group feel threatened by a minority group, they are more likely to be receptive to denigrations of that minority group as their prejudice is activated in order to maintain their group position. Racially, when whites feel that their group's status on top of the racial hierarchy is threatened, they are more willing to tolerate overtly negative denigrations of African Americans and other racial minority groups. I use survey experiments, observational survey data, and analyses of congressional race television advertisements to evaluate and support my claims.
The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
In the article by Shoub et al. (forthcoming), the source cited in text and listed in the referenc... more In the article by Shoub et al. (forthcoming), the source cited in text and listed in the references as Rocha et al. (forthcoming) should instead be cited and listed as Maltby et al. (forthcoming).
Urban Affairs Review
A frequently proposed “solution” to the problem of racially targeted policing is to diversify the... more A frequently proposed “solution” to the problem of racially targeted policing is to diversify the leadership of a police department, such as instate a Black police chief. However, little is known about how and when such changes may alter policing outcomes. Here, we question whether this descriptive representation leads to a reduction in racial disparities in policing outcomes and how the political and social context may condition that relationship – captured by why a transition took place. To test this, we turn to traffic stop data from nine agencies in Illinois that had variation in chief race between 2004 and 2018. We find that who heads a police department – and why they were appointed (i.e., transition type) – is linked to search rates following a traffic stop, which has implications for work on race and policing, descriptive representation, and local politics.
Investigating whether white perceptions of racial threat are influenced by partisan threat --- an... more Investigating whether white perceptions of racial threat are influenced by partisan threat --- and whether this has an effect on whites' willingness to accept explicit racial appeals.
Studies of racial profiling typically focus on a White/Black or White/minority dichotomy. In this... more Studies of racial profiling typically focus on a White/Black or White/minority dichotomy. In this project, I extend that analysis to multiple racial, gender, and class groups. I use data from every traffic stop that occurred in six states over multiple years, amounting to more than 15 million traffic stops. Using this original and unique dataset, I am able to draw conclusions about the outcomes that individual drivers face as a result of their intersectional racial, gender, and class-based perceived identities. I attribute this phenomenon to widely held stereotypes about social groups, rather than to individually prejudiced police officers. Overall, I find that social groups that are stereotyped as more suspicious receive the harshest treatment from police, while those who are not considered suspicious receive lighter treatment, in the aggregate.
The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Harsh, highly intrusive, personal contact with the criminal justice system has been shown to poli... more Harsh, highly intrusive, personal contact with the criminal justice system has been shown to politically demobilize, but it is unclear whether less intrusive forms of police contact have any political effects. As the modal type of involuntary police–citizen contact is less invasive and more routine (e.g., a traffic stop), it is critical to understand the ramifications of lighter forms of contact. We argue that, unlike harsh police contact, light, personal, police contact can mobilize individuals, under certain circumstances. When a negative encounter with the police—even if it is minor—runs counter to prior expectations, people experiencing the contact are mobilized to take political action. Using 3 years of observational data and an original survey experiment, we demonstrate that individuals who receive tickets or are stopped by the police are more likely to participate in politics. These effects are most pronounced for individuals with positive evaluations of the police, often Whi...
How framing whiteness affects political and racial attitudes
How does exposure to information about the realities of structural inequality influence people... more How does exposure to information about the realities of structural inequality influence people's thinking about democracy?
This study investigates the extent to which asking respondents pre-treatment questions that tap t... more This study investigates the extent to which asking respondents pre-treatment questions that tap their racial attitudes biases their responses to experimental conditions later in the survey.
This pre-registration follows up on studies that have already been conducted to analyze whether a... more This pre-registration follows up on studies that have already been conducted to analyze whether a design element in a survey affects outcomes.
In this survey, I test whether levels of perceived racial threat (induced experimentally) affect ... more In this survey, I test whether levels of perceived racial threat (induced experimentally) affect responses to an explicitly anti-black racial appeal.
Evidence has emerged demonstrating that whites no longer reject negative, explicit racial appeals... more Evidence has emerged demonstrating that whites no longer reject negative, explicit racial appeals as they had in the past. This seeming reversal of the traditional logic of the powerlessness of explicit appeals raises the question: Why are explicit racial appeals accepted sometimes but rejected at other times? Here, I test whether the relative acceptance of negative, explicit racial appeals depends on whites’ feelings of threat using a two-wave survey experiment that manipulates participants’ feelings of threat, and then examines their responses to an overtly racist political appeal. I find that when whites feel threatened, they are more willing to approve of and agree with a negative, explicit racial appeal disparaging African Americans—and express willingness to vote for the candidate who made the explicit racial appeal.
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... more INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 22 I.PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA ........................................................................................ 26 I.DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ............................................................................................... 30 II.DISPARITIES IN SEARCH RATES BY RACE ..................................................................... 31 A. Search Rates Among White Drivers........................................................ 31 B. Search Rates Among Black Drivers ......................................................... 33 C. Search Rates Among Hispanic Drivers .................................................. 35 D. Black-White Search Rate Ratios ............................................................... 37 E. Hispanic-White Search Rate Ratios ......................................................... 39 III.A MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS .....
Politics, Groups, and Identities
Studies of racial profiling typically focus on a White/Black or White/minority dichotomy. In this... more Studies of racial profiling typically focus on a White/Black or White/minority dichotomy. In this project, I extend that analysis to multiple racial, gender, and class groups. I use data from every traffic stop that occurred in six states over multiple years, amounting to more than 15 million traffic stops. Using this original and unique dataset, I am able to draw conclusions about the outcomes that individual drivers face as a result of their intersectional racial, gender, and class-based perceived identities. I attribute this phenomenon to widely held stereotypes about social groups, rather than to individually racist police officers. Overall, I find that social groups that are stereotyped as more suspicious receive the harshest treatment from police, while those who are not considered suspicious receive lighter treatment, in the aggregate. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .
Politics, Groups, and Identities
Racial disparities in citizen interactions with police are ubiquitous concerns in American commun... more Racial disparities in citizen interactions with police are ubiquitous concerns in American communities. What difference does electoral representation make? We demonstrate that black descriptive representation in local government affects police activity and scrutiny in a given community. We use a new dataset comprised of over 79 municipal police departments spanning six states, based on tens of millions of individual-level traffic stops. In cities and towns with majority-black city councils, traffic stops are less likely to result in a search. This decline in search rates affects both white and black drivers, though the decline is larger for black drivers. Even after controlling for socioeconomic factors, segregation, and crime rates, descriptive representation still matters. A city council composed of a majority of black members is associated with important differences in policing, affecting both white and black residents.
The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Racial disparities in traffic stop outcomes are widespread and well documented. Less well underst... more Racial disparities in traffic stop outcomes are widespread and well documented. Less well understood is how racial disparities may be amplified or muted in different contexts. Here we focus on one such situational factor: whether the initial traffic stop was related to a traffic safety violation or a (broadly defined) investigatory purpose. This is a salient contextual characteristic as stop type relates to different levels of assumed discretion and purpose. While all traffic stops involve some officer discretion, investigatory stops are more easily used as justifications to conduct a search based on an officer's diffuse suspicion; traffic safety stops are more often just what they seem. Using millions of traffic stops from several states, we show that black male drivers are more likely to be searched and less likely to be found with contraband and that this relationship is amplified where the initial stop purpose is investigatory. One implication of this is that one path to all...
SSRN Electronic Journal
To contain the spread of COVID-19, experts emphasize the importance of wearing masks Unfortunatel... more To contain the spread of COVID-19, experts emphasize the importance of wearing masks Unfortunately, this practice may put blacks at elevated risk for being see
Policy Studies Journal
We investigate a possible linkage between municipal reliance on fines, fees, and forfeitures as a... more We investigate a possible linkage between municipal reliance on fines, fees, and forfeitures as a revenue source and policing behavior. With a dataset of four million traffic stops made by North Carolina municipalities, we demonstrate that a regular reliance on fines, fees, and forfeitures has powerful, predictable, and racially distinct impacts on black and white drivers, and that fiscal stress exacerbates these differences. A greater regular reliance on fines, fees, and forfeitures is linked to a decrease in the probability of white, but not black, drivers being searched; and increased odds of finding contraband among those white drivers who are searched, but no such change for black drivers. We validate the North Carolina tests with aggregate analyses of municipalities across four states.
In recent years, the United States has witnessed a resurgence in the use of overt references to r... more In recent years, the United States has witnessed a resurgence in the use of overt references to race and identity by politicians. This increase is surprising since previous studies in political communication and racial priming suggest that citizens reject explicit references to race. My dissertation examines why this change has occurred. I propose and find that when members of a dominant group feel threatened by a minority group, they are more likely to be receptive to denigrations of that minority group as their prejudice is activated in order to maintain their group position. Racially, when whites feel that their group's status on top of the racial hierarchy is threatened, they are more willing to tolerate overtly negative denigrations of African Americans and other racial minority groups. I use survey experiments, observational survey data, and analyses of congressional race television advertisements to evaluate and support my claims.
The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
In the article by Shoub et al. (forthcoming), the source cited in text and listed in the referenc... more In the article by Shoub et al. (forthcoming), the source cited in text and listed in the references as Rocha et al. (forthcoming) should instead be cited and listed as Maltby et al. (forthcoming).