| This dissertation examines the policy changes that dramatically expanded the scale of incarceration in California and Texas in the latter third of the twentieth century, generating two of the world's largest prison systems and incarceration rates far higher than most democratic nations. By combining quantitative and qualitative research methods to form case studies of pivotal policy developments, and the sociological forces associated with them, this project contributes valuable empirical depth to the sociological literature, and offers theoretical insights into the factors that led to these changes.;The findings indicate that the punitive shift in these states occurred during periods of intense socioeconomic change in which very few citizens voted. In this context, state-level networks of groups and individuals associated with law enforcement became increasingly influential in the political realm. Through direct lobbying in the state capitol and through their public statements regarding the nature of crime and the best means for responding to it, these networks successfully pushed for an increasingly punitive response to crime that relied on mass incarceration. They were most successful in periods of economic volatility, in which voters were increasingly responsive to certain politicians' calls to "crack down" on the "criminal element" of the states. These leaders called for a "war" to punish wrongdoers, and were willing to fund that war through any means possible; voters in both states responded by approving billions of dollars in borrowing to execute an extremely costly prison expansion program. |
