race, poverty, and the politics of crime control /
Lisa L. Miller.
New York :
Oxford University Press,
2008.
x, 254 pages :
illustrations ;
24 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-243) and index.
Interests, venues, and group participation -- A political history of crime on the congressional agenda -- Contemporary crime politics in Congress -- Interest groups and crime politics at the state level -- Crime, law, and group politics in two urban locales -- Citizenship through participation -- Democratic accountability and social control.
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"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." "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 on 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."--BOOK JACKET.