Crime, Violence, and Political Participation

Abstract

The paper explores the relationship between crime victimization and political participation, making the argument that the observed (and oft-cited) relationship in surveys is the result of response bias. We show that people who are more extroverted, efficacious, and opinionated are more likely to respond positively to a question about victimization, and they are more likely to participate in politics. The implications of this finding are important and widespread—both for survey researchers interested in sensitive questions and for research on the relationship between crime and political engagement.