Title Prison break : why conservatives turned against mass incarceration / David Dagan and Steven M. Teles

Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016] ©2016

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 240 pages) Series Studies in postwar American political development Oxford studies in postwar American political development. Contents Preface -- How minds change -- The rise of law and order conservatism -- Cracks in the wall -- Rounding up a posse -- Friends on the outside -- Bull by the horns -- A vast right-wing conspiracy -- Red-state rehabilitation -- Trickle-​up reform -- Mass decarceration? Summary "American conservatism rose hand-in-hand with the growth of mass incarceration. For decades, conservatives deployed "tough on crime" rhetoric to attack liberals as out-of-touch elitists who coddled criminals while the nation spiraled toward disorder. As a result, conservatives have been the motive force in building our vast prison system. Indeed, expanding the number of Americans under lock and key was long a point of pride for politicians on the right - even as the U.S. prison population eclipsed international records. Over the last few years, conservatives in Washington, D.C. and in bright-red states like Georgia and Texas, have reversed course, and are now leading the charge to curb prison growth. In Prison Break, David Dagan and Steve Teles explain how this striking turn of events occurred, how it will affect mass incarceration, and what it teaches us about achieving policy breakthroughs in our polarized age. Combining insights from law, sociology, and political science, Teles and Dagan will offer the first comprehensive account of this major political shift. In a challenge to the conventional wisdom, they argue that the fiscal pressures brought on by recession are only a small part of the explanation for the conservatives' shift, over-shadowed by Republicans' increasing anti-statism, the waning efficacy of "tough on crime" politics and the increasing engagement of evangelicals. These forces set the stage for a small cadre of conservative leaders to reframe criminal justice in terms of redeeming wayward souls and rolling back government. These developments have created the potential to significantly reduce mass incarceration, but only if reformers on both the right and the left play their cards right. As Dagan and Teles stress, there is also a broader lesson in this story about the conditions for cross-party cooperation in our polarized age. Partisan identity, they argue, generally precedes position-taking, and policy breakthroughs are unlikely to come by "reaching across the aisle," promoting "compromise," or appealing to "expert opinion." Instead, change happens when political movements redefine their own orthodoxies for their own reasons. As Dagan and Teles show, outsiders can assist in this process - and they played a crucial role in the case of criminal justice - but they cannot manufacture it. This book will not only reshape our understanding of conservatism and American penal policy, but also force us to reconsider the drivers of policy innovation in the context of American politics"-- Provided by publisher "Over the last few years, conservatives in Washington, D.C. and in bright-red states like Georgia and Texas, have abandoned their tough-on-crime rhetoric, and are now leading the charge to curb prison growth. In Prison Break, Steven Teles and David Dagan will explain how this striking turn of events occurred, how it will affect mass incarceration, and what it teaches us about achieving policy breakthroughs in our polarized age. Combining insights from law, sociology, and political science, Teles and Dagan will offer the first comprehensive account of this major political shift"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on January 22, 2020) Subject Imprisonment -- Political aspects -- United States -- History Criminal justice, Administration of -- Political aspects -- United States -- History Conservatism -- United States -- History Political parties -- Platforms -- History POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Law Enforcement. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Human Rights. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Social Policy. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Penology. Conservatism Criminal justice, Administration of -- Political aspects Political parties -- Platforms Politics and government SUBJECT United States -- Politics and government -- History Subject United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book Author Teles, Steven Michael, author. LC no. 2016009349 ISBN 9780190246457 0190246456 9780190246464 0190246464

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