Cities run by Democrats have a 74% higher violent crime rate and a 109% higher murder rate.

Three days ago, I pointed out an absurd argument made by a reporter in the Washington Post, attempting to prove that Trump is lying that the most dangerous cities are run by Democrats by showing that by crime rate, a couple of the cities have non-partisan elections and therefore not all cities are run by Democrats.

Lott makes the same point in Media Ignores Facts to Claim a Trump Gotcha by John Lott.

Fortunately he goes beyond refuting the Post reporter. He goes one step further and instead of asking which are the most dangerous cities, he asks of all the largest cities, which have the highest crime rates.

It is a usefully more precise question. If you wish to choose to live in a city, you presumably wish to live in those which are more effectively governed. Therefore, you want to know the crime rate of each city.

If it is true that the philosophical grounding of the respective parties also correlate with their effectiveness, then that is interesting and potentially useful as well.

More crudely, and my formulation, not Lott's, which philosophy of governance yields a safer city - the philosophy of Social Justice (using Democratic Party governance as a proxy) or the philosophy of Justice (using the Republican Party governance as a proxy)?

And the answer is pretty clear - if you want safety for citizens, go with the Justice party (Republicans) rather than the Social Justice party (Democrats).

But Democrats don’t run all the large cities. Of the 100 largest cities, Republicans run 29, Democrats 64, independents 3, and four are non-partisan.

Of the 20 largest cities, Republicans run four and Democrats run 16. The Republican cities are much safer. In 2018, the violent crime rate was 72% higher in cities run by Democrats, and the murder rate was 83% higher. Even once you move out of the very largest cities, the results are the same. Of the 50 largest cities, Republicans control 13 and Democrats 37. Cities run by Democrats have a 74% higher violent crime rate and a 109% higher murder rate.

83% and 109% - Those are pretty large effect sizes.

It seems clear. If you want safety, seek Justice. If you are comfortable with twice the death rate, seek Social Justice.