Public Policy and Civil Rights: An Analysis of Agency Efficacy

Abstract

Civil rights policy at the state-level informs a significant portion of how laws meant to protect marginalized members of society is enforced. While past studies have focused on the many dimensions of civil rights policy, both at the state and federal level, fewer studies have examined the efficacy of civil rights policies, and specifically, civil rights commissions. The present study applies a multi-pronged approach to measure commission efficacy at the national level. Utilizing data collected from annual reports, commission efficacy was calculated for 30 states and an additional 5 states (AL, AR, GA, NM, and MS) represented by figures from federal civil rights enforcement agencies (HUD and the EEOC). Overall, the findings demonstrate various forms of efficacy, both for state and federal civil rights agencies. Commissions in the New England area reported the highest rates of efficacy. However, the findings were overshadowed by “missing data.” Surprisingly, 99% of incidents of discrimination (Nielson and Nelson 2005) and harassment (McCann, Tomaskovic-Devey and Badgett 2018) are never reported, and in turn, are not represented in the data published in annual reports. Fear of retribution for reporting violations and deep distrust between marginalized communities and civil rights commissions appears to be at the crux of under-reporting. Bridging this divide requires reforms in existing civil rights policy, with emphasis on education and outreach. On a societal level, the lack of reporting contributes to the perpetuation of systemic racism, given that it is largely a practice hidden in the shadows of American society.