Structural Violence and Political Competition: Accounting for an Insidious Killer With Evidence From Texas Counties

Abstract

When we think about violence in America, what typically comes to mind is the kinetic type of violence, committed by individuals, that takes the form of mass killings. This type of violence is horrific and generates universal revulsion, but there is another type of violence that is less noticeable, and neither captures the full attention of the media nor is a topic that involves policy discussions in a way that mass violence sometimes does. This is an insidious, lethal kind of violence known as structural violence that manifests itself in the premature death of numerous Americans. We demonstrate the widespread lethality associated with structural violence by examining the life expectancies of residents of Texas’ 254 counties, where we highlight the disparities that exist in how long different groups of county residents are likely to live. We also show that this is a problem that can be solved, or at least ameliorated, with uncontroversial policy actions, and these include not enacting policies that reduce political competition and the likelihood of political change because the results we present show clearly that political competition and change are conditions that improve public health outcomes.