Lethal Violence and the Americas: Beyond the U.S.-European Comparisons on Crime and Punishment

Scholars of mass incarceration in the United States often compare the extreme nature of U.S. imprisonment and other forms of state coercion to much less punitive forms in Europe. But it is not just harsh imprisonment, violent policing, and the death penalty that distinguish the U.S. from Europe. The United States also has relatively high rates of murder, distinctive political institutions, and a different origin story. This essay situates the U.S. within the Americas, home to eleven percent of the world’s population but more than a third of intentional homicides. State formation and state-building in the Americas emerged in a different time period and in the context of colonialism and slavery. The resultant political institutions are more fragmented and less effective at constraining violence in many forms than those in Europe. The essay offers a theoretical framework rooted in comparative political economy and historic institutionalism to shed light on the relationship between colonialism, state-building, and the monopoly of violence during key periods of state formation.