The Perils of Federalism: Race, Poverty, and the Politics of Crime Control - Couverture rigide

Miller, Lisa L.

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0195331680 ISBN 13 : 9780195331684

Editeur : Oxford University Press Inc, 2008

Synopsis

Book by Miller Lisa L

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

In the past dozen years, a number of American cities plagued by gun violence have tried to enact local laws to stem gun-related crime. Yet policymakers at the state and federal levels have very frequently stymied their efforts. This is not an atypical phenomenon. In fact, for a whole range of pressing social problems, state and federal policymakers ignore the demands of local communities that suffer from such ills the most. Lisa L. Miller asks, how does America's multi-tiered political system shape crime policy in ways that empower the higher levels of government yet demobilize and disempower local communities? After all, crime has a disproportionate impact on poor and minority communities, which typically connect crime and violence to broader social and economic inequities at the local level. As The Perils of Federalism powerfully demonstrates, though, the real control to set policy lies with the state and federal governments, and at these levels single-issue advocates--gun rights groups as well as prison, prosecutorial and law enforcement agencies--are able to shape policy over the heads of the people most affected by the issue. There is a tragic irony in this. The conventional wisdom that emerged from the Civil Rights era was that the higher levels of government--and the federal level in particular--best served the disadvantaged, while localities were most likely to ignore the social problems resulting from racial and economic inequality. Crime policy, Miller argues, teaches us an opposite lesson: as policy control migrates to higher levels, the priorities of low-income minority communities are ignored, the realities of racial and economic inequality are marginalized, and citizens lose their voices. Taking readers from the streets of Philadelphia to the halls of Congress, she details how and why our system operates in the way that it does. Ultimately, the book not only challenges what we think about the advantages of relying of federal power for sensible and fair solutions to longstanding social problems. It also highlights the deep disconnect between the structure of the American political system and the ideals of democratic accountability.

Revue de presse :

This is a breakthrough book that for the first time brings structure of American federalism into the center of the analysis of America's punitive turn and the politics of crime control. Miller has produced compelling evidence that our political institutions, rather than our social peculiarities, provide the most significant explanation for our unprecedented degree of punitiveness. (Jonathan Simon, author of Governing through Crime)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press Inc
• Date d'édition: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0195331680
• ISBN 13: 9780195331684
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 264