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Locked In? Conservative Reform and the Future of Mass Incarceration

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  • David Dagan
  • Steven M. Teles

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • David Dagan & Steven M. Teles, 2014. "Locked In? Conservative Reform and the Future of Mass Incarceration," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 651(1), pages 266-276, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:651:y:2014:i:1:p:266-276
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716213502935
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Schmitt & Kris Warner & Sarika Gupta, 2010. "The High Budgetary Cost of Incarceration," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2010-14, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    2. Weaver, Kent, 2010. "Paths and Forks or Chutes and Ladders?: Negative Feedbacks and Policy Regime Change," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(2), pages 137-162, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sara Wakefield & Hedwig Lee & Christopher Wildeman, 2016. "Tough on Crime, Tough on Families? Criminal Justice and Family Life in America," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 8-21, May.
    2. Heather Schoenfeld, 2016. "A Research Agenda on Reform," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 664(1), pages 155-174, March.
    3. Katherine Beckett & Anna Reosti & Emily Knaphus, 2016. "The End of an Era? Understanding the Contradictions of Criminal Justice Reform," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 664(1), pages 238-259, March.
    4. Michael Leo Owens, 2014. "Ex-Felons’ Organization-Based Political Work for Carceral Reforms," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 651(1), pages 256-265, January.

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