Law and order under a resurgent right: The rise of authoritarian populism

Abstract

Over 30 years ago, the Thatcher government in the United Kingdom and the Reagan government in the USA set out to dismantle the social democratic legacy. Crime was politicised and the political right pursued a punitive law and order agenda that is now largely taken for granted. The targeting of criminal offending as an individual failing combated through intensive policing and more punitive sentencing displaced the focus on social, economic and cultural causes of crime.