Re-enfranchising the Disenfranchised: Increasing Political Participation among Baltimore City’s Previously Incarcerated through Parochial Social Controls

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2019-05

Department

Center for People, Politics, and Markets - Political Science

Program

Bachelor's Degree

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain information or permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Goucher Special Collections & Archives at 410-337-6347 or email archives@goucher.edu.

Abstract

There has been growing interest in expanding voting rights and bolstering political participation among the United States electorate. Yet, even as states take steps to make the political process more inclusive, previously incarcerated people remain disenfranchised and under-mobilized. Using Maryland as a case study, this paper focuses on the recent trend in states’ return of voting rights to previously incarcerated people and the impact this legislation has on political participation. I argue that there is a disconnect between passing such legislation and implementing it at a community-level which would make it accessible to the population it aims to benefit. To support this argument, this work narrows to examine community-level methods for increasing the political participation and reintegration of Baltimore City’s formerly incarcerated population. Through in-depth interviews conducted with previously incarcerated participants of Turnaround Tuesday, a jobs movement in Baltimore City, I examine the ways in which Civil Society Organizations provide the networks, trainings, and tools for previously incarcerated people to regain a sense of internal and political efficacy that allows them to re-engage with their communities through political action.