The Roots of Punitiveness in a Democracy

Abstract

In contrast to one's normal conception of punitiveness as inconsistent with the principles of democracy, the political appeal associated with being ‘tough on crime’ can become very tempting when the public's concern about crime is aroused. For at least the 50 years from the mid‐1920s to the mid‐1970s, the incarceration rate in the US closely followed a stable pattern of 110 per hundred thousand population under the homeostatic control of the criminal justice system. Once crime became an issue of major public concern, incarceration rate increased about 6–8% per year, and is now the highest in the world, almost five times the previously stable rate. Alternative measures of punitiveness are considered, including expected time served per crime or per conviction; the US is also shown to be punitive on these measures, especially for the less serious crimes that have greater room for discretion. Since the political process is limited largely to changes in sentencing policy, those increases were reflected primarily in increasing the probability of commitment to prison and time served, and especially the latter more recently, and not due to more crime or better policing. In comparing incarceration rate and recent trends in that rate across other democracies, we find that upward trends predominate and are greatest in countries with the lowest initial rates.

Keywords:

• Criminal careers
• Criminal justice system
• Incarceration
• Measuring punitiveness
• Punishment policy
• Time served

Notes

1. Based on data from Harrison and Beck (2006) and previous publications of that series from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

2. This is best illustrated by the case of Willie Horton, which contributed to the defeat of Michael Dukakis in the presidential election of 1988. Dukakis, then the governor of Massachusetts, was the Democratic candidate for president against George H. W. Bush. A Massachusetts prisoner named Willie Horton had been granted a weekend furlough from prison and ended up committing a brutal crime on that weekend. Even though such administrative issues as granting of parole release, and especially weekend furloughs, rarely draws the attention of a governor, the Willie Horton story became a major basis for accusing Governor Dukakis of being soft on crime, and that accusation was later seen as a significant factor contributing to his defeat in the election.

3. For those not familiar with the typically American game of baseball, a batter is allowed three ‘strikes’ or swings at a pitched ball before he is declared ‘out’.

4. Crack is a variant of cocaine that could be sold much more cheaply than the minimum available quantities of powder cocaine, and so appealed to a large constituency among the low end of the income distribution.

5. For example, in a number of inner‐city areas in the US, many of the ‘street people’ wear T‐shirts emblazoned with ‘Stop Snitching’ as a slogan.

6. For example, some countries include under robbery all thefts while others include only thefts associated with force or threat of force.

7. A common motto pervading the mass media ‘if it bleeds, it leads’.

8. A good summary of the role and operation of sentencing commissions is provided by von Hirsch, Knapp and Tonry (1987).