A Panel Analysis of Legal Culture, Political Economics, and Punishment Among 15 Western Countries, 1960–2010

Abstract

I extend Sutton’s political economy of punishment thesis by including a composite measure of legal and criminal justice practices that are hypothesized to be related to incarceration rates. I test the association between a punishment regime–type variable composed of the nature of prosecutorial discretion, judicial power, and the nature of lay participation with incarceration rates in 15 Western countries between 1960 and 2010. The effects of the punishment regime variable are tested in several time series cross-section models that correct for autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity and include the effects of the leading political–economic correlates of punishment and homicide rates. The results show consistent significant findings for the punishment regime–type variable, union power, and corporatist bargaining, with mixed support for political party power, inflation, and unemployment rates. These findings provide evidence for the existence of multiple cultures of Western punishment. In the end, I suggest that multidisciplinary cross-national partnerships incorporating researchers and governmental entities are needed to develop large comparative criminal justice databases to enhance understanding of comparative crime and justice.