Concurrent pressures of mass protests: the dual influences of #BlackLivesMatter on state-level policing reform adoption

Abstract

This article seeks to clarify the relationship between Black Lives Matter and the enactment of state-level police reform by engaging with a broader discussion surrounding policy innovation that has taken shape in recent decades. We ask, what contributes to the differences in state responsiveness to the BLM movement? Moreover, is there a link between the protests, themselves, and state-level police reform enactments? We find, a state's response to demands for police reform is heavily dependent on a combination of both the conditions within their state as well as their position in the overall police reform diffusion space. More importantly, we find that the BLM movement, itself, played dual roles in applying pressure on states to enact reforms from August 2014 – December 2020: (1) reform efforts on the part of lawmakers were proportionate to the frequency that BLM protesters take their grievances to the street, and (2) policy adoptions are largely shaped by the state-to-state diffusion network where states with the highest frequencies of protests are most influential. The results of this analysis should serve as a sharp rebuttal for those that question and downplay the effectiveness of Black-led social movements in achieving substantive policy change.