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

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.