The dominant implication of the carceral state literature is that path-breaking change is impossible through ordinary politics, reducing the options to either acquiescence or a level of mass mobilization not seen in decades. Over the last decade, however, activists have generated a surge of agitation for carceral reform, especially at the state level. In a twist the scholarly literature did not anticipate, much of that energy is coming from the Right. The theoretical flaw underlying the scholarly pessimism is a focus on the way policies entrench themselves through positive feedback, without commensurate attention to negative feedback. We argue the balance of feedback is shifting to the negative side in the case of mass incarceration. To seriously shrink the prison population, however, conservatives will have to accept the construction of alternative government structures; liberals will have to accept that these will remain more paternalistic than they might like.
AlexanderMichelle. 2012. The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. Reprint. New York, NY: New Press.
2.
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). 2007. A plan to reduce prison overcrowding and violent crime: “Conditional Post-Conviction Release Bond Act.”Washington, DC: ALEC.
3.
BaumgartnerFrank R.De BoefSuzanna L.BoydstunAmber E.2008. The decline of the death penalty and the discovery of innocence. 1st ed. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
4.
BeanAlan. 2010. Taking out the trash in Tulia, Texas. Desoto, TX: Advanced Concept Design.
5.
BeckettKatherine. 1999. Making crime pay: Law and order in contemporary American politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
6.
BousquetSteve. 1July2012. Gov. Rick Scott presses for prison privatization. The Miami Herald. Available from http://www.miamiherald.com.
7.
BrownElizabeth K.2013. Foreclosing on incarceration? State correctional policy enactments and the Great Recession. Criminal Justice Policy Review24 (3): 317–37.
8.
CarminesEdward G.StimsonJames A.1989. Issue evolution: Race and the transformation of American politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
9.
ClearTodd R.AustinJames. 2009. Reducing mass incarceration: Implications of the iron law of prison populations. Harvard Law & Policy Review3:307–24.
10.
DaganDavidTelesSteven M.2012a. The conservative war on prisons. The Washington Monthly. Available from http://www.washingtonmonthly.com.
11.
DaganDavidTelesSteven M.2012b. The social construction of negative feedback: Incarceration, conservatism and policy change. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, 30 August, New Orleans, LA.
12.
DenvirDaniel. 2May2013. The worst gun control idea has bipartisan support: Why states should not pass new mandatory minimums for firearm possession. The New Republic. Available from http://www.newrepublic.com.
13.
GarlandDavid. 2002. The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press.
14.
GingrichNewtNolanPat. 7January2011. Prison reform: A smart way for states to save money and lives. Washington Post. Available from http://www.washingtonpost.com.
15.
GottschalkMarie. 2007. The prison and the gallows. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
16.
GottschalkMarie. 2010. Cell blocks & red ink: Mass incarceration, the Great Recession & penal reform. Daedalus139 (3): 62–73.
17.
GottschalkMarie, ed. 2011. Special issue: Special issue on mass incarceration. Criminology & Public Policy10 (3): 483–504.
18.
Gould SheininAaronRankinBill. 2May2012. Deal signs bill revamping many criminal sentences. Atlanta Journal Constitution. Available from http://www.ajc.com.
19.
HarcourtBernard E.2006. Against prediction: Profiling, policing, and punishing in an actuarial age. Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press.
20.
HolianDavid B.2004. He’s stealing my issues! Clinton’s crime rhetoric and the dynamics of issue ownership. Political Behavior26 (2): 95–124.
21.
JacobsonMichael. 2006. Downsizing prisons: How to reduce crime and end mass incarceration. New York, NY: New York University Press.
22.
JonesBryan D.BaumgartnerFrank R.2005. The politics of attention: How government prioritizes problems. Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press.
KirkhamChris. 14February2012. Private prison corporation offers cash in exchange for state prisons. Huffington Post. Available from http://www.huffingtonpost.com.
25.
KleimanMark A. R.2011. Justice reinvestment in community supervision. Criminology & Public Policy10 (3): 651–59.
26.
KleimanMark. 2013. A new role for parole. The Washington Monthly.
27.
Legislative Budget Board. 2007. Adult and juvenile correctional population projections, fiscal years 2007–2012. Austin, TX: Legislative Budget Board.
LynchMona. 2011. Mass incarceration, legal change, and locale. Criminology & Public Policy10 (3): 673–98.
30.
MauerMarc. 2006. Race to incarcerate. Rev. ed. New York, NY: New Press.
31.
MauerMarc. 2011. Addressing the political environment shaping mass incarceration. Criminology & Public Policy10 (3): 699–705.
32.
MearesTraceyKahanDan. 1999. When rights are wrong: The paradox of unwanted rights. In Urgent times: Policing and rights in inner-city communities, eds. RogersJoelCohenJoshua, 3–32. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
33.
MeissnerDorisKerwinDonald M.ChishtiMuzaffarBergeronClaire. 2013. Immigration enforcement in the United States: The rise of a formidable machinery. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.
34.
MendelbergTali. 2001. The race card: Campaign strategy, implicit messages, and the norm of equality. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
35.
MillerLisa L.2010. The perils of federalism: Race, poverty, and the politics of crime control. Reprint. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
36.
MillerLisa L.2011. The local and the legal. Criminology & Public Policy10 (3): 725–32.
37.
MoroneJames A.2004. Hellfire nation: The politics of sin in American history. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
38.
MurakawaNaomi. 2005. Electing to punish: Congress, race, and the American criminal justice state. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
39.
MurakawaNaomi. Forthcoming. The first civil right: Racial procedularism and the construction of carceral America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
PageJoshua. 2013. The toughest beat: Politics, punishment, and the prison officers union in California. Reprint. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
PearlsteinRich. 3October2011. Crime, punishment, and rehabilitation: When they’ve done the time, expunge the crime. National Review Online. Available from https://www.nationalreview.com.
44.
PerkinsonRobert. 2010. Texas tough: The rise of America’s prison empire. New York, NY: Picador.
45.
Pew Charitable Trust. 2013. Public Safety Performance Project. Washington, DC: The Pew Charitable Trusts. Available from http://www.pewstates.org.
46.
RaineAdrian. 26April2013. The criminal mind. Wall Street Journal. Available from http://online.wsj.com.
SchoenfeldHeather. 2011. Putting politics in penal policy reform. Criminology & Public Policy10 (3): 715–24.
50.
SimonJonathan. 2009. Governing through crime: How the war on crime transformed American democracy and created a culture of fear. 1st ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
51.
StuntzWilliam J.2011. The collapse of American criminal justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
52.
WacquantLoïc. 2001. Deadly symbiosis when ghetto and prison meet and mesh. Punishment & Society3 (1): 95–133.
53.
WeaverKent. 2010. Paths and forks or chutes and ladders? Negative feedbacks and policy regime change. Journal of Public Policy30 (2): 137–62.
54.
WeaverVesla M.2007. Frontlash: Race and the development of punitive crime policy. Studies in American Political Development21 (2): 230–65.
55.
WeisbergRobertPetersiliaJoan. 2010. The dangers of pyrrhic victories against mass incarceration. Daedalus139 (3): 124–33.
56.
WesternBruce. 2007. Punishment and inequality in America. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
57.
WhitmanJames Q.2005. Harsh justice: Criminal punishment and the widening divide between America and Europe. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
