In Support of Reparations: Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment

• In Event: Opinions on Race-Based Policies

Abstract

Municipalities across the United States are considering reparations ordinances that seek to address racist public policies that have caused multigenerational harm to Black residents. However, reparations represent an emerging policy domain that has yet to gain salience at the national level. Which factors are most strongly associated with support for reparations? Do these factors operate differently across racial and ideological divides? Drawing from in-depth interviews with residents of Evanston, Illinois—the first municipality in the United States to pass a reparations ordinance—we develop a framework for understanding the factors that shape how individuals think about this emerging policy domain. These factors include understandings of history, ideology, racial attitudes, and beliefs about deservingness, taxation, and government spending. We use this framework to develop a conjoint experiment that will be fielded in the pre-election wave of the 2022 Cooperative Election Study (CES). The results from this experiment can inform the work of community organizers and policymakers who are working to understand how to build support for reparations among diverse constituencies across the country.

Authors

• Matthew D. Nelsen, University of Miami

• Monique Newton, Northwestern University

• Amanda Sahar d'Urso, Georgetown University