Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy

5.4 million Americans--1 in every 40 voting-age adults--are denied the right to participate in democratic elections because of a past or current felony conviction. In several American states, 1 in 4 black men cannot vote due to a felony conviction. In a country that prides itself on universal
suffrage, how did the United States come to deny a voice to such a large percentage of its citizenry? What are the consequences of large-scale disenfranchisement--for election outcomes, for the reintegration of former offenders back into their communities, and for public policy more generally?
Locked Out exposes one of the most important, yet little known, threats to the health of American democracy. It reveals the centrality of racial factors in the origins of these laws, and their impact on today's political landscape. Marshalling the first real empirical evidence on the issue to make a
case for reform, the authors' groundbreaking analysis will inform all future policy and political debates on the laws governing the political rights of criminals.


Author: Jeff Manza, Christopher Uggen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 04/11/2008
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780195341942

About the Author

Jeff Manza is Professor of Sociology at New York University. Christopher Uggen is Distinguished McKnight Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota.

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