Reconsidering State Variation in Incarceration Rates.

State incarceration rates have been a topic of much policy discussion. One notable issue missing from much of the literature concerns the various determinants that account for state differences in incarceration rates. Why are some states more or less likely to incarcerate their citizenry than other states? The article examines the 50 states in a cross‐sectional state comparative model. Using a dependent variable of state incarceration rates, we offer and test several explanatory models, including socioeconomic factors, political explanations, social control mechanisms, and structural factors. We find that socioeconomic explanations to be the most robust, but we find varying degrees of support for each of our four models. Related Articles: Garrett, Terence Michael. 2020. "The Security Apparatus, Federal Magistrate Courts, and Detention Centers as Simulacra: The Effects of Trump's Zero Tolerance Policy on Migrants and Refugees in the Rio Grande Valley." Politics & Policy 48 (2): 372‐395. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12348 Mitchell, Joshua L., and Adam M. Butz. 2019. "Social Control Meets New Public Management: Examining the Diffusion of State Prison Privatization, 1979‐2010." Politics & Policy 47 (3): 506‐544. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12309 Morris, John C. 2007. "Government and Market Pathologies of Privatization: The Case of Prison Privatization." Politics & Policy 35 (2): 318‐341. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2007.00062.x [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]