The power of penal populism in New Zealand from 1999 to 2008

from Tess Bartlett's abstract to her thesis:

This thesis explains the rise and power of penal populism in contemporary New Zealand society. It argues that the rise of penal populism can be attributed to social, economic and political changes that have taken place in New Zealand since the post­war years. These changes undermined the prevailing penal­welfare logic that had dominated policymaking in this area since 1945. 

It examines the way in which ‘the public’ became more involved in the administration of penal policy from 1999 to 2008. The credibility given to a law and order referendum in 1999, which drew attention to crime victims and ‘tough on crime’ discourse, exemplified their new role. In its aftermath, greater influence was given to the public and groups speaking on its behalf. 

Mar 21, 2011 Retribution, Region: Pacific, Theory, Support, Country:New Zealand, Policy

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Restorative justice, policing and the Big Society

from the speech by The Rt Hon Nick Herbert MP, Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice in England:

There has been much talk about restorative justice. We’ve seen encouraging pilots and there’s talk about it not only in this country, but around the world. So why is it that something that offers such encouraging results should not have taken a greater hold in our system?

Well, I think it is because we’ve seen evolving over the last few years a criminal justice system that has been very much directed from the centre.

We’ve been through the recent era of targets and what has eloquently been described as ‘deliverology’. The idea of managing from the centre, of close direction in order to try and drive up the performance of public services. This was done for benign reasons, but we all know what the consequences were.

Mar 02, 2011 Country:England&Wales, Theory, Support, Potential, Region: Europe, Policy, Politics

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