In the United States, striking racial disparities in COVID-19 infection and mortality rates were one of the core patterns of the virus. These racial disproportionalities were a result of structural factors—laws, rules, and practices embedded in economic, social, and political systems. Public policy is central among such structural features. Policies distribute advantages, disadvantages, benefits, and burdens in ways that generate, reinforce, or redress racial inequities. Crucially, public policy is a function of power relations, so understanding policy decisions requires attentiveness to power. This paper asseses statistical associations between racial power and state anti-eviction policies. Charting the timing of state policy responses between March 2020 and June 2021, I examine correlations between response times and racial power as reflected in state populations, voting constituencies, legislatures, and social movement activities. Ultimately, I do not find any significant associations. The null results underscore the complexities and difficulties of studying race, power, and public policy with theoretical nuance and empirical care. While the findings leave us with much to learn about how racial power operates, the conceptualization and theorizing offered in the paper, instructively underscore the value of centering racial power in analyses of public policy.

中文翻译：

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种族、权力和政策：了解 COVID-19 期间的州反驱逐政策

在美国，COVID-19 感染和死亡率的显着种族差异是该病毒的核心模式之一。这些种族不成比例是结构性因素——经济、社会和政治体系中嵌入的法律、规则和实践——的结果。公共政策是这些结构特征的核心。政策以产生、加强或纠正种族不平等的方式分配优势、劣势、利益和负担。至关重要的是，公共政策是权力关系的函数，因此理解政策决策需要关注权力。本文评估了种族权力与国家反驱逐政策之间的统计关联。绘制 2020 年 3 月至 2021 年 6 月期间国家政策响应的时间安排，我研究了反映在州人口、投票选区、立法机关和社会运动活动中的反应时间和种族权力之间的相关性。最终，我没有发现任何重要的关联。无效结果强调了以理论细微差别和实证研究来研究种族、权力和公共政策的复杂性和困难。虽然这些发现让我们有很多关于种族权力如何运作的知识，但论文中提供的概念化和理论化，指导性地强调了在公共政策分析中以种族权力为中心的价值。和具有理论细微差别和经验关怀的公共政策。虽然这些发现让我们有很多关于种族权力如何运作的知识，但论文中提供的概念化和理论化，指导性地强调了在公共政策分析中以种族权力为中心的价值。和具有理论细微差别和经验关怀的公共政策。虽然这些发现让我们有很多关于种族权力如何运作的知识，但论文中提供的概念化和理论化，指导性地强调了在公共政策分析中以种族权力为中心的价值。