scholarly journals The Power of Penal Populism: Public Influences on Penal and Sentencing Policy from 1999 to 2008

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tess Bartlett

<p>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. The referendum also influenced political discourse in New Zealand, with politicians increasingly using 'tough on crime' policies in election campaigns as it was believed that this was what 'the public' wanted when it came to criminal justice issues. As part of these developments, the thesis examines the rise of the Sensible Sentencing Trust, a unique law and order pressure group that advocates for victims' rights and the harsh treatment of offenders. The Trust became an increasingly authoritative voice in both the public and political arena, as public sentiments came to overrule expert knowledge in the administration of penal policy. Ultimately, it argues that the power of penal populism is so strong in New Zealand that attempts to resist it are likely to come to little, unless these forces that brought it to prominence can be addressed and negated. To date, this has not happened.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tess Bartlett

<p>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. The referendum also influenced political discourse in New Zealand, with politicians increasingly using 'tough on crime' policies in election campaigns as it was believed that this was what 'the public' wanted when it came to criminal justice issues. As part of these developments, the thesis examines the rise of the Sensible Sentencing Trust, a unique law and order pressure group that advocates for victims' rights and the harsh treatment of offenders. The Trust became an increasingly authoritative voice in both the public and political arena, as public sentiments came to overrule expert knowledge in the administration of penal policy. Ultimately, it argues that the power of penal populism is so strong in New Zealand that attempts to resist it are likely to come to little, unless these forces that brought it to prominence can be addressed and negated. To date, this has not happened.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lidewij Oosterhoff

<p>This paper examines the origins, benefits and pitfalls of the Citizen Initiated Referenda Act 1993, focusing on the non-binding justice-based referendum question put to the public in 1999. Citizen Initiated Referenda find their roots within the ideas of public participation in government, or direct democracy. This paper examines the philosophical and political theories – both in favour and against direct democracy – in order to canvas opinions relating to political participation. This is used as a basis to assess whether New Zealand should consider holding binding referenda on criminal justice related issues.</p>


Author(s):  
Julilly Kohler-Hausmann

This chapter argues that prisoners themselves catalyzed these changes through their resistance to what many felt were the discriminatory, degrading, and coercive features of the rehabilitative regime in California's prisons. It then maps the diverse and unlikely collection of law enforcement professionals, leftist radicals, and law-and-order activists who all joined prisoners in their rejection of the “rehabilitative ideal.” When legislators abolished indeterminate sentencing, they transferred to the legislature the authority to set the prison terms for different crimes. However, moving sentencing policy into the political arena need not inevitably lead to harsher sentencing. Not every crime evokes a populist demand for retribution, and crime increases do not mechanically trigger harsher punishment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lidewij Oosterhoff

<p>This paper examines the origins, benefits and pitfalls of the Citizen Initiated Referenda Act 1993, focusing on the non-binding justice-based referendum question put to the public in 1999. Citizen Initiated Referenda find their roots within the ideas of public participation in government, or direct democracy. This paper examines the philosophical and political theories – both in favour and against direct democracy – in order to canvas opinions relating to political participation. This is used as a basis to assess whether New Zealand should consider holding binding referenda on criminal justice related issues.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark N. H. Seabrook-Davidson ◽  
Dianne H. Brunton

A survey was conducted amongst a sample (n = 3 000) of the New Zealand public to gauge their perception of government spending on conservation. The survey also obtained an understanding of the level of awareness the public has of New Zealand threatened species. Respondents ranked eight areas of government spending, namely health, education, superannuation, law and order, defence, conservation of native species, primary industry research & development and tourism. From a response rate of n = 131 (4.5%), health and education were ranked the highest, followed by law and order with conservation in fourth position. Except for conservation of native species, these rankings by respondents closely aligned with priorities of average annual government spending. Awareness was the highest for endemic species such as kiwi Apteryx spp, Hector’s dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori, kokako Callaeas cinerea cinerea, kakapo Strigops habroptilus, takahe Porphyrio mantelli, Maui’s dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori maui and tuatara Sphenodon punctatus. The awareness for these prominent species may suggest that the Department of Conservation is achieving some success in its advocacy role to increase the public’s awareness of species threatened with extinction. With awareness of threatened species and the moderate ranking given to conservation expenditure, it is evident there is a level of public support for expenditure on protection of biodiversity and natural heritage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-5
Author(s):  
Tracy Harkison ◽  
Brent Martin

2020 was one of the most challenging years to date for the New Zealand hospitality industry. As part of a wider study, a series of interviews were conducted to gain insights into what New Zealand professionals faced through this challenging time with some of their philosophical and career overviews. In this second interview, conducted in November 2020, Tracy Harkison interviewed Brent Martin, executive chef at Park Hyatt Auckland. Questions asked ranged from his passion for hospitality and dealing with COVID-19 to his hopes for the future of hospitality in New Zealand. Tracy Harkison What do you love about working in hospitality? Brent Martin The biggest thing for me is the opportunity – the opportunities that hospitality has given me. I don’t think there is another career that could have given me these opportunities to travel, to live in different cultures, meet different people, and just experience the world. You adapt a lot more and you learn a lot more about your own personality and your own way to deal with things in different cultures. I think hospitality work is a way to broaden people’s lives. Tracy Are there unique aspects to the New Zealand hospitality industry? Brent We are an international brand and hopefully this brings a wealth of knowledge back to New Zealand, which we’re starting to see – not just in hotels but restaurants who have had several really well-known chefs coming back. So the uniqueness of New Zealand is that we have a clean slate and a blank canvas on which we can create these experiences. Tracy Why start a career in hospitality? Brent There are a couple of components to this, it’s the camaraderie and it’s the family values that people have. I’ve been in the industry 30 plus years and the friends that I’ve gained along the way are my friends for life. The time that you spend working in hospitality is sometimes time spent with your best friend. People that come into hospitality really learn about that. Once those borders open, we’re going to be inundated with hundreds of thousands of people coming to New Zealand, and this is going to be very much an ongoing process in New Zealand. New Zealand is struggling for hospitality people and it’s going to open up a lot of doors for people who may have different views of what hospitality is. Tracy When starting in the industry, what advice would you give? Brent You’ve got to come into the industry with an open mind. You need to have passion and you’ve got to understand the unsociable hours. But the rewards at the end of what can happen here are amazing. The reward of seeing people eating in your restaurant, eating your food, it is amazing. When somebody comes up to you and says, “That’s the best meal I’ve ever had”, it’s instant gratification, whereas a lot of people won’t be able to get that kind of gratification from a job. Tracy What has been your greatest leadership challenge? Brent The biggest challenge for me was opening a mega-resort in the Bahamas where I had to find 400 plus cooks/staff from a population of about 200,000. So, the biggest challenge for me was to find cooks who could actually cook. To open up this mega-resort with 26 different restaurants with different cuisines and different styles, there were days I thought I’d never get there, but I ended up with over 420 staff members by the time I left the property. Tracy The COVID 19 situation – what was your decision-making process? Brent The biggest thing for us was that we never wanted to lose an employee, and that was our commitment from day one: how do we keep every employee employed in this hotel throughout this pandemic? The team really focused on watching out for each other, helping each other and knowing what the end goal was. But we had to set a standard of what this hotel was going to be; the expectations of the owner, ourselves and obviously the public was the biggest hurdle that we had to really push. We have proper practices throughout the hotel – all the staff wear face masks; that is a corporate directive from our Hyatt Corporation. Tracy How would you change the New Zealand hospitality industry? Brent I wish that we had a lot more energy to be willing to service a guest right. We talk about hospitality in New Zealand and we’re very open – you’re a family house to guests, which is amazing. It’s a refinement of what hospitality could be in New Zealand that is needed. It’s the boundaries of how my service is… how involved am I with that person at a table; at the front desk, am I too over-powering, or am I attentive enough. So it’s just refining that level of service to really understand who that customer is, and the ability to read the situation that you’re in and have three or four talking points. The most important thing is, how do we start a conversation and how do we stop a conversation with a customer; it’s the hardest thing to do, but it’s important. Corresponding author Tracy Harkison can be contacted at: [email protected]


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arber Balani ◽  
Olga Vladimirovna Glushakova ◽  
Yaroslava Vaysberg ◽  
Natalia Vasilievna Fadeikina ◽  
Vladimir Vasilevich Mikhailov ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Ralph Henham

This chapter argues that the relationship between penal policy and the political economy provides important insights into the political and institutional reforms required to minimize harsh and discriminatory penal policies. However, the capacity of sentencing policy to engage with this social reality in a meaningful way necessitates a recasting of penal ideology. To realize this objective requires a profound understanding of sentencing’s social value and significance for citizens. The greatest challenge then lies in establishing coherent links between penal ideology and practice to encourage forms of sentencing that are sensitive to changes in social value. The chapter concludes by explaining how the present approach taken by the courts of England and Wales to the sentencing of women exacerbates social exclusion and reinforces existing divisions in social morality. It urges fundamental changes in ideology and practice so that policy reflects a socially valued rationale for the criminalization and punishment of women.


Climate justice requires sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its resolution equitably and fairly. It brings together justice between generations and justice within generations. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals summit in September 2015, and the Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015, brought climate justice center stage in global discussions. In the run up to Paris, Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, instituted the Climate Justice Dialogue. The editors of this volume, an economist and a philosopher, served on the High Level Advisory Committee of the Climate Justice Dialogue. They noted the overlap and mutual enforcement between the economic and philosophical discourses on climate justice. But they also noted the great need for these strands to come together to support the public and policy discourse. This volume is the result.


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