Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Voting has long been heralded as a fundamental right and the cornerstone of American democracy. However, our checkered history with disenfranchisement in America demonstrates that this mechanism for participatory citizenship has and continues to elude many marginalized communities. Dating back to the Reconstruction Era, explicit tactics and efforts were forged to bar minority groups, namely Black citizens, from exercising their right to vote. These practices are no less dormant today, as is evidenced by our continued disenfranchisement of citizens that have been convicted of a felony. The state of Florida in particular has been notorious for its lifetime voting ban on felons until most recently. Coming on the heels of a U.S. District Court’s decision to strike down a long-standing and arbitrary clemency process, Florida passed Amendment 4 which restored voting rights for 1.4 million citizens in 2018. Florida has been a pivotal battleground state, often deciding presidential elections, and such an expansion of the franchise carries hefty implications for equity, democracy, and future elections. Guided by Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework (MSF), this study explores the conditions that gave way to Amendment 4’s passage--including the process for placing the amendment on the 2018 midterm ballot and the climate that allowed for the effective mobilization of citizen support. Data were collected during the summer of 2019 via interviews with key political and policy entrepreneurs involved with actively supporting or opposing the measure. This paper serves as a case study for understanding the political conditions that affect the policy process, and examines the congruence between public opinion and policy change. The study also makes a unique contribution by employing the MSF to analyze a citizen-initiated amendment rather than a measure introduced by a state legislature.