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Exploring the Determinants of Decisions to Privatize State Prisons

Rutgers University, Newark

Norma M. Riccucci

Rutgers University, Newark

This study examines the potential determinants of state governments to privatize their prisons. Based on prison privatization data across the 50 states, the study finds that political factors such as the political culture of a state and the party controlling the legislature are more likely to influence decisions to privatize than those typically offered by advocates of prison privatization—fiscal or economic concerns, such as cost savings. The interesting twist here, however, is that due to a host of factors such as prison overcrowding and the increased popular demand for privatization as a way to address overcrowding, even those states that have Democrat-controlled legislatures are pursuing prison privatization.

Key Words: privatization • prisons • decision making • policy making

The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 35, No. 3, 223-235 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0275074005277174


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