Description

Much of the existing research on race and crime focuses on the manipulation of crime by political elites or the racially biased nature of crime policy. In contrast, Lisa L. Miller here specifically focuses on political and socio-legal institutions and actors that drive these developments and their relationship to the politics of race and poverty; in particular, the degree to which citizens at most risk of victimization--primarily racial minorities and the poor--play a role in the development of political responses to crime and violence.

Miller begins her study by providing a detailed analysis of the narrow and often parochial nature of national and state crime politics, drawing a sharp contrast to the active and intense local political mobilization on crime by racial minorities and the urban poor. In doing so, The Perils of Federalism illustrates the ways in which the structure of U.S. federalism has contributed to the absence of black and poor victims of violence from national policy responses to crime and how highly organized but narrowly focused interest groups, such as the National Rifle Association, have a disproportionate influence in crime politics. Moreover, it illustrates how the absence of these groups from the policy process at other levels promotes policy frames that are highly skewed in favor of police, prosecutors, and narrow citizen interests, whose policy preferences often converge on increasing punishments for offenders.

Ultimately, The Perils of Federalism challenges the conventional wisdom about the advantages of federalization and explains the key disadvantages that local communities face in trying to change policy.

Features

• Provides new insights into group theory by comparing group participation on the same issue across three legislative venues (local, state and national), thus providing opportunity to see a broad range of citizen interests and how mobilization and participation across legislatures biases issues and interests
• Offers a unique perspective on the role of race in public policymaking, suggesting that not all interest groups can interact with governmental institutions in the same manner
• Offers a detailed historic account of the development of crime on the national political agenda, situating the issue in the context of the nature of U.S. federalism. In particular, it implicates our constitutional arrangements and balance of power between federal and state governments as a key aspect of undermining the interests of blacks and the poor, particularly as they struggle to gain attention to issues of crime, violence and other social ills

Reviews

"An important contribution to the literature on the US punishment boom and problems of American democracy generally."--Contemporary Sociology

"Miller has produced an important, theoretically rich, and arguably counterintuitive work that convincingly argues that local environments are being disserved with respect to crime policy when higher level (i.e., state and federal) governmental entities hold the balance of power....Highly recommended."--CHOICE

"Miller artfully tackles a critical question: why have the people most negatively affected by crime and tough penal policies--who tend to live in poor urban neighborhoods--been so marginalized in national and state-level debates over criminal justice? Her keen analysis helps explain why retributive, law-and-order approaches win out time and again over alternative crime-control strategies like economic development, job training, better schools, and more social services for disadvantaged communities."--Marie Gottschalk, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, and author of The Prison and the Gallows

"This is a breakthrough book that for the first time brings structure of American federalism into the center of the analysis of America's punitive turn and the politics of crime control. Miller has produced compelling evidence that our political institutions, rather than our social peculiarities, provide the most significant explanation for our unprecedented degree of punitiveness."--Jonathan Simon, Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley Law School, and author of Governing through Crime

"Lisa Miller has produced a powerfully thoughtful empirical analysis of the various ways that American federalism amplifies some conflicts and mutes others in our ongoing debates about how best to reduce the harms associated with crime and punishment....while advancing a complex, significant, and timely argument, the book remains highly readable from start to finish....the detailed, rigorous, and innovative empirical analysis provided in this book contributes to filling a major gap....The data provided are rich and multilayered; the argument presented is concise, subtle, and persuasive....Miller's focus on agenda-setting and the relationship between structure and agency make this book an enormous breakthrough....The Perils of Federalism is a must-read."--Law & Politics Book Review

"Offers a valuable contribution to the growing field...a compelling, detailed, and informative account of the degree to which federalism and the division of power constrain efforts to influence the crime policy-making process."--Political Science Quarterly

Product Details

264 pages; 6 b/w illus.; 6 1/8 X 9 1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-533168-4ISBN10: 0-19-533168-0

About the Author(s)