Public Opinion, Federalism, and Level of Governmental Intervention: Perceptions of Law Enforcement Response to the 2020 George Floyd Protests

Abstract

Abstract In June 2020, President Trump issued an executive order calling for the deployment of federal law enforcement agents to protests against police brutality. Several mayors across the country objected to this unilateral deployment of federal force as unconstitutional. In an online survey experiment, we test whether the public stands against this type of federal power aggrandizement by evaluating how approval of federal intervention in protests changes depending on whether it is requested by local mayors or directed by the presidential administration. The results show that the public is responsive to the level of government directing the action. Respondents are significantly less approving of the use of federal forces when it is directed by the federal executive branch. However, not all subgroups respond equally to the manipulation. The treatment effects vary significantly by respondent partisanship, trust in government, and perceptions of the importance of federalism.