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Recent dramatic increases of criminal punishment in the United States and very different trends in the Federal Republic of Germany suggest a critique of basic sociological theory traditions. The article confronts structural-functionalist, Marxist, and legalistic approaches with these trends and suggests an alternative and more complex theory. Utilizing and ideal-typical comparison between the two countries, this article develops a set of interrelated hypotheses on the impact of the institutionalization of (a) knowledge production in the public, political, and academic sectors and (b) political and legal decision making on (c) macro outcomes of political and legal decision making. Using the case of criminal punishment, the article suggests new themes for theory development and empirical macro-sociological research. It also contributes to the understanding of current instabilities in the political process in the United States.
Joachim J. Savelsberg (Sat,) studied this question.