1. Introduction; 2. A forgiving or a punitive public?; 3. Who led whom?; 4. Explaining the public's punitiveness; 5. Democracy at work? Public opinion and mass incarceration; 6. Punitive politics in the states; 7. Conclusion.
Incarceration Nation demonstrates that the US public played a critical role in the rise of mass incarceration in this country.
Peter K. Enns is Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University, New York and former Faculty Director of Cornell's Prison Education Program. His previous research has appeared in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Public Opinion Quarterly.
'Did Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, and other elected officials
generate the 'tough on crime' political attitudes that led to the
rapid rise in incarceration beginning in the 1970s? Or was it a
more general trend reflecting shifting media portrayals of crime
and powerful forces in public opinion? In this path-breaking and
rigorous analysis, Peter Enns answers these questions. And he also
gives cause for hope that, with shifting public understandings of
the nature of crime and the appropriate response to it, our long
national infatuation with incarceration may have already come to an
end. It is a methodological tour de force, of interest not only to
those concerned with criminal justice, but also to those interested
in a more general question: what is, and should be, the role of
public opinion in determining public policy outcomes in a
democracy?' Frank R. Baumgartner, Richard J. Richardson
Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, and coauthor of The Decline of the Death
Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence
'This is an historic moment for criminal justice reform, with
unprecedented bipartisan support for reducing prison populations.
But in order to effectively dismantle mass incarceration, we must
understand the forces that got us there. Peter Enns masterfully
dissects the political and social processes that led to the US
becoming the world's leader in incarceration, illustrating the
central importance of mass public opinion in driving the punitive
turn in correctional policy. The book is a welcome addition to the
scholarship on mass incarceration, challenging many prevailing
views and giving us important new insights on the past, present,
and future of criminal justice reform.' Devah Pager, Harvard
University
'This book delivers a substantial and important account of the
influence of mass opinion on criminal justice policy over more than
half a century, with broader implications for the study of
democratic politics. Enns's emphasis on dynamics develops a novel
and distinctive approach to understanding the politics of crime in
the United States that is also highly relevant to the rise of penal
populism across a number of advanced democracies.' Will Jennings,
University of Southampton
'It is said every society gets the criminals it deserves, but we
get the justice system that we want. In this highly impressive new
book, Peter Enns demonstrates precisely this: the growth of the
incarceration nation was no accident and we are all implicated. The
good news is that public opinion is changing dramatically on this
issue. Enns's important analysis gives me great hope that if we can
build it, we can also knock it down.' Shadd Maruna, Dean, Rutgers
School of Criminal Justice
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