Public Pressure Expands Policy Access for Black Constituents but Limits Substantive Engagement. with Danyao Li; Yixin Liu; Huimin Zheng.
Abstract
Municipal policymakers are gatekeepers of policy ideas. Our nationwide audit shows that while Black and White constituents receive similar baseline responsiveness from local policymakers, cues about institutional conditions in constituent messages can reconfigure who gets attention and whether attention becomes commitment. Appeals to broad public concern can open doors for Black constituents yet simultaneously steer policymakers away from substantive engagement. We demonstrate this dynamic in police misconduct settlements—quiet payouts that strain municipal budgets and bypass police accountability. Yet the mechanisms we uncover should travel beyond policing. By showing how micro-level race-based gatekeeping is conditioned by macro-level institutional conditions, we highlight both the promise and peril of public pressure as a strategy to broaden minority access to policy agenda.