University of Kentucky UKnowledge University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2010 THREE WORLDS OF WESTERN PUNISHMENT: A REGIME THEORY OF CROSS-NATIONAL INCARCERATION RATE VARIATION, 1960-2002 Matthew DeMichele University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation DeMichele, Matthew, "THREE WORLDS OF WESTERN PUNISHMENT: A REGIME THEORY OF CROSS- NATIONAL INCARCERATION RATE VARIATION, 1960-2002" (2010). University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations. 89. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/89 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION MATTHEW DEMICHELE The Graduate School University of Kentucky 2010 THREE WORLDS OF WESTERN PUNISHMENT: A REGIME THEORY OF CROSS- NATIONAL INCARCERATION RATE VARIATION, 1960-2002 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Matthew Todd DeMichele Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Thomas Janoski, Professor of Sociology Lexington, Kentucky 2010 Copyright © Matthew Todd DeMichele 2010 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION THREE WORLDS OF WESTERN PUNISHMENT: A REGIME THEORY OF CROSS- NATIONAL INCARCERATION RATE VARIATION, 1960-2002 This dissertation offers an explanation of cross national incarceration rate variation for 17 industrialized countries for the second half of the 20th century. Both historical case studies and time-series cross-section analyses are used to provide an institutional explanation of incarceration rate differences. Borrowing from Weber’s Sociology of Law and comparative legal scholarship, it is suggested that three types of legal thinking exist among western democracies—Common, Romano-Germanic, and Nordic law. A regime approach commonly applied in political economic explanations of welfare state development is used to quantify the legal and criminal justice institutional differences between 1960 and 2002 to assert that there are ‘three worlds of western punishment’ in the post-War period. The countries used in this analysis are similar in numerous ways, but historically embedded legal differences have resulted in different trial structures, judge-attorney relationships, rules of criminal evidence, and lay participation that influence the amount of incarceration in each country. The historical case studies demonstrate how important events set countries on particular developmental paths such as the power of defense attorneys in common law, despite their original exclusion from trials; the choice of scientific legal principles as a basis for an objective law blending Roman and Germanic legal principles; and the Nordic’s amalgamation of common and Romano-Germanic legal principles. These legal institutions are complimented by political economic variables that suggest that the presence of more left leaning political parties, centralization of wage bargaining, and labor organization provide a further break on the drive to incarcerate. The quantitative findings support the legal regime approach as well as political economic variables while controlling for crime and homicide rates. KEYWORDS: Sociology of Law, Political Sociology, Comparative Sociology, Time- series Cross-section Analysis, Sociology of Punishment Matthew Todd DeMichele Student’s Signature January 22, 2010 Date THREE WORLDS OF WESTERN PUNISHMENT: A REGIME THEORY OF CROSS- NATIONAL INCARCERATION RATE VARIATION, 1960-2002 By Matthew Todd DeMichele Professor Thomas Janoski Director of Dissertation Professor Keiko Tanaka Director of Graduate Studies RULES FOR USE OF DISSERTATION Unpublished dissertation submitted for the Doctor’s degree and deposited in the University of Kentucky Library are as a rule open for inspection, but are to be used only with due regard to the rights of the authors. Bibliographic references may be noted, but quotations or summaries of parts may be published only with the permission of the author, and with the usual scholarly acknowledgements. Extensive copying or publication of the dissertation in whole or in part also requires the consent of the Dean of the Graduate School of the University of Kentucky. A library that borrows this dissertation for the use by its patrons is expected to secure the signature of each user. Name Date DISSERTATION Matthew Todd DeMichele The Graduate School University of Kentucky 2010 THREE WORLDS OF WESTERN PUNISHMENT: A REGIME THEORY OF CROSS- NATIONAL INCARCERATION RATE VARIATION, 1960-2002 DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Matthew DeMichele Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Thomas Janoski, Professor of Sociology Lexington, Kentucky 2010 Copyright © Matthew Todd DeMichele 2010 To my parents, Paul and Linda DeMichele Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Macro-Explanations of Incarceration ............................................................................. 2 Criminal Justice Systems ................................................................................................ 3 Possible Explanations of Incarceration ........................................................................... 7 Theoretical Explanations: Classical and Contemporary ................................................. 8 Weber: Institutional Variation ........................................................................................ 9 Weber’s Typologies of Legal Thinking ........................................................................ 10 Types of Institutional Theories ..................................................................................... 14 Historical Institutionalism ............................................................................................. 15 Hypotheses .................................................................................................................... 17 What’s to Come ............................................................................................................. 17 Chapter Two: Research Plan and Methodological Strategy ............................................. 18 Methods......................................................................................................................... 18 Regime Method ............................................................................................................. 18 Data ............................................................................................................................... 21 Operationalization of the Dependent Variable ............................................................. 21 Quantitative Approach .................................................................................................. 22 Case Studies: US, Germany, and Sweden .................................................................... 24 Expected findings.......................................................................................................... 24 Independent Variables .................................................................................................. 25 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 27 Chapter Three: Quantitative Analysis ............................................................................... 28 Descriptive Statistics ..................................................................................................... 28 Cross-Sectional Correlations: Punishment Regimes and Welfare State Regimes ........ 31 Cross Sectional Correlations with Incarceration Rates: Criminal justice, Economic, and Literacy ......................................................................................................................... 33 OLS Regression: Incarceration rates and Punishment regimes .................................... 35 Time-series cross-sectional correlations ....................................................................... 38 Time-Series Cross-Section Analysis............................................................................. 41 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter Four: The Common Law Punishment Regime: The United States ..................... 47 Early Common Law History ......................................................................................... 49 Treason Trial Act of 1696: From Accused Speaks to Adversary Trial ........................ 50 Rules of Criminal Evidentiary Procedure ..................................................................... 51 US Criminal Justice Emerges ........................................................................................... 53 The Colonial Period: Privatized Justice .......................................................................