When Governors Speak Up for Justice: Punishment Politics and Mass Incarceration in the American States

The tension created by the drop in violent crime since the 1990's and the sustained increase in mass incarceration in the American states during that period constitutes a phenomenon of great theoretical and policy relevance. Previous accounts of this tension centered on theories of group conflict and instrumentalism. We introduce a rhetorical framework for understanding mass incarceration. 

We argue that a key contributor to the mass incarceration boom is the use of aggressive political rhetoric by state governors to communicate the crime problem. Using data partially derived through content analysis of state of the state addresses of governors from all 50 states, we test this rhetoric theory and evaluate its implications alongside instrumental and conflict-based explanations of mass incarceration. Our analysis indicates that gubernatorial rhetoric has strong effect on mass incarceration but that this effect is moderated by the institutional power of the governor. 

Developmental Theories and the Challenge for the 21st Century

Empirical research on developmental theories of crime first informed us that increase in social capital such as quality marriages, jobs orfirst time fatherhood would lead toward desistance, except among men who were substance abusers. However, the men in this notable work by Robert Sampson and John Laub were based on a cohort who came of age during World War two.

While this seemed disheartening for those of us who hoped for social policies that might facilitate such attachment policies, at least in the United States where the incarceration mania continued until recently. Now new re-entry policies have begun to lead to de-carceration movements around the country. While this is laudable, job creation and treatment programs also must be created to facilitate successful re-entry. The neighborhoods some of these form felons may not increase but rather decrease their social capital.

Political Science and the "Micro-Politics" Research Agenda

In the last decade, a new research agenda has emerged in political science. Under the broad rubric of “micro-politics” research, these studies focused on the close range analysis of a gamut of questions such asrebel group behavior, popular enactment of genocidal violence, reconciliatory or peace-making behaviors, and democratic citizenship. 

Combining various methodological strategies, these studies refocused attention on the non-elites (the “little people”) as the central object of inquiry. Local level dynamics-local histories, institutions, power struggles, and community-based networks-played an important role in these explanatory frameworks. This Editorial note sketches a broad overview of this agenda not only because it has attracted prominent scholars and enjoyed rapid growth within the discipline, but also because it holds substantial promise for the future of political science.

Our Side of the Mirror: The (Re)-Construction of 1970s’ Masculinity in David Peace’s Red Riding

David Peace and the late Gordon Burn are two British novelists who have used a mixture of fact and fiction in their works to explore the nature of fame, celebrity and the media representations of individuals caught up in events, including investigations into notorious murders. Both Peace and Burn have analysed the case of Peter Sutcliffe, who was found guilty in 1981 of the brutal murders of thirteen women in the North of England. Peace’s novels filmed as the Red Riding Trilogy are an excoriating portrayal of the failings of misogynist and corrupt police officers, which allowed Sutcliffe to escape arrest. Burn’s somebody’s Husband Somebody’ Son is a detailed factual portrait of the community where Sutcliffe spent his life. Peace’s technique combines reportage, stream of consciousness and changing points of views including the police and the victims to produce an episodic non-linear narrative.

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A Note on Race and Politics in the United States

The impetus for this brief commentary derives from the idea that the politics of race in the United States continues to be a public affairs issue. Given that it is important for political scientists to debate race and politics in the United States, as a multifaceted area of American politics, the Journal of Political Science and Public Affairs provides an open forum for different methodological approaches and diverse perspectives and positions on race and politics. 

In fact, we are witnessing a time where race, in terms of its metonymic intensifications, is analysed and discussed through a variety of coded signifiers such as culture and class. Hence, any effort to stage ast and off that race matters or not in the United States would have to recognize the ontology and epistemology of race and its modalities of visual performance,that is, not what race is, but what race does. Race is something that is ascribed to blacks and other non-whites. Whites, on the other hand, are unraced and unmarked, which positioned whites as members of the dominant group.

Income Inequality and Crime: A Review and Explanation of the Time– series Evidence

The relationship between inequality and crime is of interest in multiple disciplines, including sociology, economics, psychology and epidemiology. Despite broad agreement across the disciplines for the existence of a relationship, there is little consensus on the theoretical explanation for this association. Runciman and Blau and Blau address the relationship from a sociological perspective yet provide differing explanations. 

Runciman’s theory of relative deprivation suggests that income inequality increases feelings of dispossession and unfairness, which leads poorer individuals to reduce perceived economic injustice through crime, while Blau and Blau suggest that relevant inequalities may be exacerbated by race. Evolutionary psychologists,Wilson and Daly views crime as a result from status competition. They argue that people at the bottom of the income distribution are particularly sensitive to inequality and this leads to risk-seeking behaviour (such as crime) when low-risk activities offer poor returns to the individual.

Hooking up in the Twenty-First Century

This study presents an exploratory analysis of the meaning of “hooking up” based on 1) academic literature, and 2) the perspective of college students from differing backgrounds. The authors investigated definitions of hooking up based on scholarly articles derived from search engine results and then from college students’ responses to an open-ended question on an online survey (N=358). 

Coding was used to identify themes that emerged from the data with the goal of understanding what the phrase means and whether the research is in line with students’ perspectives. Additionally, the authors sought to examine whether differences exist based on demographic variables. The findings revealed that the phrase “hooking up” predominantly represents sexual behavior ranging from kissing to sexual intercourse in the research base, but has been more narrowly constructed among college students. Gender differences also emerged, with males being more likely than females to view hooking up as involving sex rather than a broader range of sexual behaviors. A discussion follows and highlights directions for future research.