Inequality and penality: The hidden side of a complex relationship

Abstract

This article focuses on the close association between inequality and punishment observed over recent decades at a macro level, at least in some regions of the world. A review of the empirical literature first provides an overview of the different types of variables mobilized to try to understand this complex relationship. The aim of the empirical part is to explore the potential role of attitudes towards inequality in this relationship, on the basis of country-level data available for West European countries. The results do not support the idea that a more meritocratic ethos at the country level would create the connection between inequality and punishment. On the contrary, they suggest the persistence of a systemic link independently of attitudinal variables. However, by showing that, the greater the inequality, the more the population calls for redistributive intervention by the state, and the more it also calls for punitive intervention, the findings could suggest another pattern. This moves away from a rather deterministic perspective to highlight the room for manoeuvre for social change.