Criminology and Democratic Politics brings together a range of international leading experts to consider the relationship between criminology and democratic politics. How does criminology relate to democratic politics? What has been the impact of criminology on crime and justice? How can we make sense of the uses, non-uses, and abuses of criminology? Such questions are far from new, but in recent times they have moved to the centre of debate in criminology in different parts of the world. The chapters in Criminology and Democratic Politics aim to contribute to this global debate. Chapters cover a range of themes such as punishment, knowledge, and penal politics; crime, fear, and the media; democratic politics and the uses of criminological knowledge; and the public role of criminology. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, and politics and all those interested in how criminology relates to democratic politics in modern times.

Offers timely discussion by attorneys, government officials, policy analysts, and academics from the United States and Latin America of the responses of the state, civil society, and the international community to threats of violence and crime.

Bringing together a variety of diverse international contributors from the Convict Criminology community, Convict Criminology for the Future surveys the historical roots of Convict Criminology, the current challenges experienced by formerly incarcerated people, and future directions for the field. Over the past two decades research has been conducted in the field of Convict Criminology, recognizing that the convict voice has long been ignored or marginalized in academia, criminal justice practice, and public policy debates. This edited volume provides a much-needed update on the state of the field and how it has evolved. Seven primary themes are examined. Historical underpinnings of Convict Criminology Adaptations to prison life Longstanding challenges for prisoners and formerly incarcerated people Post-secondary education behind bars The expansion of Convict Criminology beyond North America Conducting scholarly research in carceral settings Future directions in Convict Criminology A global line up of contributors, from the fields of Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law, Political Science, and Sociology, comprehensively tackle each topic, reviewing causes, reactions, and solutions to challenges. The volume also includes a chronology of significant events in the history of Convict Criminology. Integrating current events with research using a variety of methods in scholarly analysis, Convict Criminology for the Future is invaluable reading for students and scholars of corrections, criminology, criminal justice, law, and sociology.

Winner of the 2017 Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award In Marxism and Criminology: A History of Criminal Selectivity, Valeria Vegh Weis rehabilitates the contributions and the methodology of Marx and Engels to analyze crime and punishment through the historical development of capitalism (15th Century to the present) in Europe and in the United States. The author puts forward the concepts of over-criminalization and under-criminalization to show that the criminal justice system has always been selective. Criminal injustice, the book argues, has been an inherent element of the founding and reproduction of a capitalist society. At a time when racial profiling, prosecutorial discretion, and mass incarceration continue to defy easy answers, Vegh Weis invites us to revisit Marx and Engels’ contributions to identify socio-economic and historic patterns of crime and punishment in order to foster transformative changes to criminal justice. The book includes a Foreword by Professor Roger Matthews of Kent University, and an Afterword written by Professor Jonathan Simon of the University of California, Berkeley.

How should democracies balance the hopes and constraints of their societies with the architecture of their constitutions and institutions to secure freedom, promote citizenship, and foster prosperity? In The Construction of Democracy, leading scholars from seven different countries—and key decision makers from eight—come together to analyze the dimensions of democratic design and draw not only practical but feasible recommendations. Here citizens, politicians, and government officials offer valuable insight into the craft of politics with real examples of success and failures from some of the leading policy makers of our time—including the president of Portugal, former presidents of Brazil and Colombia, and a former prime minister of India. Drawing on the work of the Club of Madrid's Conference on Democratic Transition and Consolidation, the contributors discuss building and sustaining a contemporary democratic state, strengthening pluralism and public participation, designing effective constitutions, confronting economic challenges for new democracies, and controlling corruption. In a rare instance where the expertise of practical-minded scholars is melded with the experience of thoughtful policy makers, this volume offers much-needed insight to others seeking sensible and effective solutions. Contributors: Carlos Blanco, minister for the reform of the state, Venezuela; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil; Aníbal Cavaco Silva, president of Portugal; Antônio Octávio Cintra, the Research Service of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies; Rut Diamint, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires; Jorge I. Domínguez, Harvard University; Grzegorz Ekiert, Harvard University; César Gaviria, former president of Colombia; Anna Grzymala-Busse, University of Michigan; Inder Kumar Gujral, former prime minister of India; Anthony Jones, the Gorbachev Foundation of North America; Marcelo Barroso Lacombe, the Research Service of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies; José Luis Méndez, El Colegio de México; Andrew Richards, Instituto Juan March of the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Ciencias Sociales, Madrid; Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University; Richard Simeon, University of Toronto; Luc Turgeon, University of Toronto.

This work provides indispensable access to an intricate and complex network of legal rules on extradition found in multilateral treaties and conventions, with specific emphasis on extradition in the Americas. It covers the historical development of the multilateral approach and presents a survey of the steps taken and work accomplished by organs of the Organization of American States with respect to updating the multilateral rules on extradition within the inter-American system. The analysis covers provisions of multilateral conventions of worldwide scope whose purposes are to prevent or repress specific categories of offences and compares the Inter-American Convention on Extradition with other multilateral treaties and conventions on that matter. The materials compiled in this volume give a welcome insight in the codification of law and constitute a fundamental tool for judicial cooperation in the Inter-American context.