BeckettKatherine. Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics (Oxford University Press, 1997). Explains how crime and drugs became powerful political issues.
2.
BlakelyEdward J.SnyderMary Gail. Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States (Brookings Institution Press, 1997). A thorough and compelling look at the rise of gated communities.
3.
CunninghamWilliam C.StrauchsJohn J.Van-MeterClifford W.. Private Security Trends 1970 to 2000: The Hallcrest Report II (Butterworths-Heinemann, 1990). Documents the private security industry and its relationship with public law enforcement.
4.
PaxtonPamela M.. “Is Social Capital Declining in the United States? A Multiple Indicator Assessment,”American Journal of Sociology (1999) 105: 88–127. A sophisticated study testing Putnam's thesis about the decline of social capital.
5.
PutnamRobert D.. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Simon & Schuster, 2001). The most famous and publicly influential scholarly treatment of social capital.
