Overview

The attention devoted to the unprecedented levels of imprisonment in the United States obscure an obvious but understudied aspect of criminal justice: there is no consistent punishment policy across the U.S. It is up to individual states to administer their criminal justice systems, and the differences among them are vast. For example, while some states enforce mandatory minimum sentencing, some even implementing harsh and degrading practices, others rely on community sanctions. What accounts for these differences? The Politics of Imprisonment seeks to document and explain variation in American penal sanctioning, drawing out the larger lessons for America's overreliance on imprisonment. Grounding her study in a comparison of how California, Washington, and New York each developed distinctive penal regimes in the late 1960s and early 1970s--a critical period in the history of crime control policy and a time of unsettling social change--Vanessa Barker concretely demonstrates that subtle but crucial differences in political institutions, democratic traditions, and social trust shape the way American states punish offenders. Barker argues that the apparent link between public participation, punitiveness, and harsh justice is not universal but dependent upon the varying institutional contexts and patterns of civic engagement within the U.S. and across liberal democracies.A bracing examination of the relationship between punishment and democracy, The Politics of Imprisonment not only suggests that increased public participation in the political process can support and sustain less coercive penal regimes, but also warns that it is precisely a lack of civic engagement that may underpin mass incarceration in the United States.

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9780195370027

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Given the significant contribution Barker has made to the growing governance literature, scholars would be well served to further explore the constructs that Barker identifies and apply them across other contexts. Laura A. Gross & Natasha A. Frost, Crime, Law and Social Change The Politics of Imprisonment offers evidence that increased democratization can support less, not more, coercive penal regimes and counters the orthodoxy that mass imprisonment is an inevitable feature of punishment in the United States. Yvonne Jewkes.

<br> A fascinating book. Barker skillfully shows how enduring cultural and political forces led states to interpret rising crime rates differently, creating not a single American penal system, but rather a patchwork of punitive regimes. Essential reading for those interested in understanding how distinct patterns of democratic engagement have shaped this key social institution. --Margaret Weir, University of California, Berkeley <br> The Politics of Imprisonment is the first book to focus on state penal policy rather than the much-trod territory of America as a nation, and does so in a way that is both highly original and well-grounded in social science theory. Barker develops a well-written analysis of institutions and political participation that will become an essential guide for those seeking to understand or find a way out of mass imprisonment in the United States. --Jonathan Simon, University of California, Berkeley <br> This excellent book develops an innovative perspect

Author Information

Vanessa Barker is Assistant Professor of Criminology at Florida State University.

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