Jennings, W., Farrall, S., Gray, E. et al. (1 more author) (2017) Penal Populism and the Public Thermostat: Crime, Public Punitiveness and Public Policy. Governance, 30 (3). pp. 463-481. ISSN 0952-1895
Abstract
This paper makes the case that feedback processes in democratic politics - between crime rates, public opinion and public policy - can account for the growth of penal populism in Britain. It argues that the public recognise and respond to rising (and falling) levels of crime, and that in turn public support for being tough on crime is translated into patterns of imprisonment. This contributes to debates over the crime-opinion-policy connection, unpacking the dynamic processes by which these relationships unfold at the aggregate-level. This uses the most extensive dataset ever assembled on aggregate opinion on crime in Britain to construct a new over-time measure of punitive attitudes. The analysis first tests the thermostatic responsiveness of punitive attitudes to changes in recorded crime rates as well as self-reported victimisation, and then examines the degree to which changes in mass opinion impact on criminal justice policy.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Governance. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Law (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 20 Apr 2016 11:12 |
Last Modified: | 02 Jun 2018 00:38 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gove.12214 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/gove.12214 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:97893 |