John Pratt is Professor of Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington. He has published extensively on the history and sociology of punishment, including Punishment in a Perfect Society (1992), Governing the Dangerous (1997), Dangerous Offenders: Punishment and Social Order (2000, joint editor), Punishment and Civilization (2002), Crime, Truth and Justice (2003, joint editor) and The New Punitiveness (2005, co-editor).

'This is an important, acessible international perspective on the rise of penal populism and surely deserves a place in every academic library' - Mike Ryan, University of Greenwich, Punishment and Society

• 1. What is Penal Populism? 2. Underlying Causes 3. Penal Populism, the Media and Information Technology 4. Penal Populism and Crime Control 5. Competing and Complimentary Influences on Penal Strategy and Thought 6. Is Penal Populism Inevitable?

John Pratt is Professor of Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington. He has published extensively on the history and sociology of punishment, including Punishment in a Perfect Society (1992), Governing the Dangerous (1997), Dangerous Offenders: Punishment and Social Order (2000, joint editor), Punishment and Civilization (2002), Crime, Truth and Justice (2003, joint editor) and The New Punitiveness (2005, co-editor).

'This is an important, acessible international perspective on the rise of penal populism and surely deserves a place in every academic library' - Mike Ryan, University of Greenwich, Punishment and Society

• 1. What is Penal Populism? 2. Underlying Causes 3. Penal Populism, the Media and Information Technology 4. Penal Populism and Crime Control 5. Competing and Complimentary Influences on Penal Strategy and Thought 6. Is Penal Populism Inevitable?