Christopher D. Berk. “The Submerged Prison State: Punishment, Private Interests, and the Politics of Public Accountability.” Punishment & Society 26, no. 1 (2024): 91–108.
DOI: 10.1177/14624745231181093

Published version: Link
Preprint: SocArXiv / SSRN

Overview

Much of what shapes punishment policy is not visible in ordinary accounts of democratic governance. This article argues that important features of the contemporary “prison state” are politically submerged. Key decisions about incarceration, contracting, service provision, and institutional priorities often occur through administrative processes, opaque procurement arrangements, and organized private interests that are difficult for publics to observe or contest.

By bringing these hidden pathways into view, the article clarifies a core problem of democratic accountability in punishment policy. It shows how private actors can influence penal governance without appearing as authors of policy, and how the resulting structures make responsibility difficult to locate. The upshot is that debates about punishment should not focus only on sentencing law or public opinion. They must also attend to the institutional channels through which power is exercised and insulated from oversight.

Central Question

How do private interests and administrative opacity reshape punishment policy while weakening democratic accountability?

Contribution

This article contributes to debates in:

  • punishment and society
  • the carceral state
  • democratic accountability
  • political economy of punishment
  • privatization and governance
  • institutional design and oversight

Who might find this useful?

Scholars working on:

  • private prisons and contracting
  • public accountability and transparency
  • administrative governance
  • interest-group influence and lobbying
  • mass incarceration and penal policy

Related work by the author

Suggested citation

Berk, Christopher D. 2024. “The Submerged Prison State: Punishment, Private Interests, and the Politics of Public Accountability.” Punishment & Society 26(1): 91–108.

[Cite with BibTeX]
@article{berk2023submerged,
  title={The Submerged Prison State: Punishment, private interests, and the politics of public accountability},
  author={Berk, Christopher D.},
  journal={Punishment \& Society},
  volume={26},
  number={1},
  pages={91--108},
  year={2024},
  publisher={SAGE Publications}
}