Replication data for: Policy Preferences after Crime Victimization: Panel and Survey Evidence from Latin America

Can crime victimization increase support for iron-fist crime-reduction policies? It is difficult to assess the political effects of crime, mainly because of the presence of unmeasured confounders. I use panel data from Brazil and strategies for reducing sensitivity to hidden biases to study how crime victims update their policy preferences. Additionally, I use survey data from 18 Latin American countries to improve the external validity of the findings. I find that crime victims are more likely to support iron-fist or strong-arm measures to reduce crime, such as allowing state repression. Also, I show that affected citizens attach less value to democracy, and that might explain their willingness to accept the erosion of basic rights in favor of radical measures to combat delinquency. These results reveal that exposure to crime can change what people think the state should be allowed to do, which can have important political implications.