The Violence of Inequality: Race and Lobbying in the Politics of Crime and Criminal Justice in the United States

Author(s):  
Sappho Xenakis ◽  
Leonidas K. Cheliotis

There is no shortage of scholarly and other research on the reciprocal relationship that inequality bears to crime, victimisation and contact with the criminal justice system, both in the specific United States context and beyond. Often, however, inequality has been studied in conjunction with only one of the three phenomena at issue, despite the intersections that arguably obtain between them–and, indeed, between their respective connections with inequality itself. There are, moreover, forms of inequality that have received far less attention in pertinent research than their prevalence and broader significance would appear to merit. The purpose of this chapter is dual: first, to identify ways in which inequality’s linkages to crime, victimisation and criminal justice may relate to one another; and second, to highlight the need for a greater focus than has been placed heretofore on the role of institutionalised inequality of access to the political process, particularly as this works to bias criminal justice policy-making towards the preferences of financially motivated state lobbying groups at the expense of disadvantaged racial minorities. In so doing, the chapter singles out for analysis the US case and, more specifically, engages with key extant explanations of the staggering rise in the use of imprisonment in the country since the 1970s.

Author(s):  
Roberto Miranda

In December of 2001, due to the financial crisis, Argentina had to suspend external payments. The country started a frantic process of abandonment of default thereafter. Research about the causes, processes, and mechanisms of the crisis has been focused on economic issues. The present work instead considers international politics. The aim of the paper is to analyze the role of the United Sates in the restructuring of Argentina’s debt. We consider the reasons, conditions, and actions developed by the hegemonic power in the relationship between Argentina and its creditors. We specially emphasize the political role played by the US government, a position that the US administration had no intention to assume neither before the debacle nor after the crisis started. We conclude that, despite the fact that Argentina has overcome the most difficult part of its default, the episode made evident, once more, the strong Argentine dependence towards the United States.


2018 ◽  
Vol 226 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-310
Author(s):  
Dr. Wasn Said Aboud

     This research addressed the study of one of the conferences held by the Iraqi opposition to unite its efforts against the Baath regime in Iraq. The research found that this conference came with a proposal and encouragement of the US administration, which was in a critical situation before the international community, which refused to use military action to overthrow Saddam. The US administration found in the Iraqi opposition a solution to its problem by presenting it as a unified and declaring an alternative to the rule of Iraq. Thus, the international argument that refuses to support the military option falls . Was the most important conference in which the US administration supports the Iraqi opposition and keen on its success in front of public opinion. Moreover, the conference largely reflected the contradictions and conflicts between the opposition factions. The conference clearly marked the beginning of adopting concepts such as sectarianism, nationalism and ethnicity among the political entities, which cast a shadow on the political scene in Iraq after 2003.


The Border ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 177-207
Author(s):  
Martin A. Schain

This chapter analyzes the shift in border policy in the United States. The shift evolved with what was framed as the surge of undocumented immigration after 1980, and the securitization of what had been a circulation of workers from Mexico to and from the United States. The perception of failure of immigration policy emerged not from a widespread reaction to a sense of failed integration, as in Europe, but to the increased political focus on the growth of the population of undocumented immigrants. The progressive reinforcement of the border, particularly after 1992, had the perverse effect of providing an incentive for migrants to remain on the US side in larger numbers than ever before. The growth of the undocumented population weighed on the political process in three ways. First, it fed a growing perception of failure of the adequacy of southern border controls. Second, as the issue of the border became politicized, it began to undermine stable understandings of policy within the policy network on immigration. Third, the border became a growing focus for intra- and interpolitical party conflict, and was accelerated by federal dynamics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Emad Wakaa Ajil

Iraq is one of the most Arab countries where the system of government has undergone major political transformations and violent events since the emergence of the modern Iraqi state in 1921 and up to the present. It began with the monarchy and the transformation of the regime into the republican system in 1958. In the republican system, Continued until 2003, and after the US occupation of Iraq in 2003, the regime changed from presidential to parliamentary system, and the parliamentary experience is a modern experience for Iraq, as he lived for a long time without parliamentary experience, what existed before 2003, can not be a parliamentary experience , The experience righteousness The study of the parliamentary system in particular and the political process in general has not been easy, because it is a complex and complex process that concerns the political system and its internal and external environment, both of which are influential in the political system and thus on the political process as a whole, After the US occupation of Iraq, the United States intervened to establish a permanent constitution for the country. Despite all the circumstances accompanying the drafting of the constitution, it is the first constitution to be drafted by an elected Constituent Assembly. The Iraqi Constitution adopted the parliamentary system of government and approved the principle of flexible separation of powers in order to achieve cooperation and balance between the authorities.


Author(s):  
Frédéric Grare

India’s relationship with the United States remains crucial to its own objectives, but is also ambiguous. The asymmetry of power between the two countries is such that the relationship, if potentially useful, is not necessary for the United States while potentially risky for India. Moreover, the shift of the political centre of gravity of Asia — resulting from the growing rivalry between China and the US — is eroding the foundations of India’s policy in Asia, while prospects for greater economic interaction is limited by India’s slow pace of reforms. The future of India-US relations lies in their capacity to evolve a new quid pro quo in which the US will formulate its expectations in more realistic terms while India would assume a larger share of the burden of Asia’ security.


Incarceration ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 263266632097780
Author(s):  
Alexandra Cox ◽  
Dwayne Betts

There are close to seven million people under correctional supervision in the United States, both in prison and in the community. The US criminal justice system is widely regarded as an inherently unmerciful institution by scholars and policymakers but also by people who have spent time in prison and their family members; it is deeply punitive, racist, expansive and damaging in its reach. In this article, we probe the meanings of mercy for the institution of parole.


1973 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 82-86
Author(s):  
Bert Lockwood ◽  
Beatrice Brickell

I would like to address myself to international outlaws and what domestic procedures are available to arrest their activities. While at first glance the nexus between domestic justice and international justice may seem tenuous, I wonder: Is it surprising that the same administration that is so insensate over the deprivation of the human rights of blacks in Southern Rhodesia is the same administration that proclaimed early in its tenure that if you have seen one slum you have pretty much seen them all, and hasn’t visited another since? Is it surprising that the same administration that evidences so little concern over the political rights of the majority in Rhodesia is the same administration that “bugs” and sabotages the political process within the United States?


1977 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 615-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Sigelman ◽  
William G. Vanderbok

The bureaucratization of the political process that characterizes twentieth century politics in many countries has not bypassed Canada—as evidenced by skyrocketing rates of government employment and expenditure and, even more dramatically, by the ever-expanding policy-making power of Canadian bureaucracy. One observer sees the civil service as occupying an increasingly strategic role in Canadian politics, a condition thatreflects in part the expanding role of modern government into highly technical areas, which tends to augment the discretion of permanent officials because legislators are obliged to delegate to them the administration of complex affairs, including the responsibility for drafting and adjudicating great amounts of sub-legislation required to “fill in the details” of the necessarily broad, organic statutes passed by Parliament. Some indication of the scale of such discretion is found in the fact that, during the period 1963–8, an annual average of 4,130 Orders-in-Council were passed in Ottawa, a substantial proportion of which provided for delegating authority to prescribe rules and regulations to ministers and their permanent advisers. By contrast, the number of laws passed annually by Canadian federal parliaments is rarely over one hundred.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-40
Author(s):  
Lasha Tchantouridze

The two-decade-long U.S.-led military mission in Afghanistan ended in August 2021 after a chaotic departure of the NATO troops. Power in Kabul transferred back to the Taliban, the political force the United States and its allies tried to defeat. In its failure to achieve a lasting change, the Western mission in Afghanistan is similar to that of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. These two missions in Afghanistan had many things in common, specifically their unsuccessful counterinsurgency efforts. However, both managed to achieve limited success in their attempts to impose their style of governance on Afghanistan as well. The current study compares and contrasts some of the crucial aspects of counterinsurgency operations conducted by the Soviet and Western forces during their respective missions, such as special forces actions, propaganda activities, and dealing with crucial social issues. Interestingly, when the Soviets withdrew in 1988, they left Afghanistan worse off, but the US-backed opposition forces subsequently made the situation even worse. On the other hand, the Western mission left the country better off in 2021, and violence subsided when power in the country was captured by the Taliban, which the United States has opposed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document