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"Miller's book is... so original, important, and conceptually rich that it should be on every socio-legal and political science scholar’s reading list and its basic insights should be incorporated into every future study of these issues."
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The Perils of Federalism: Race, Poverty and the Politics of Crime Control (2008, Oxford University Press)
"This is a breakthrough book that for the first time brings structure of American federalism into the center of the analysis of America's punitive turn and the politics of crime control. Miller has produced compelling evidence that our political institutions, rather than our social peculiarities, provide the most significant explanation for our unprecedented degree of punitiveness."--Jonathan Simon, Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley Law School, and author of Governing through Crime
"Miller has produced a powerfully thoughtful empirical analysis of the various ways that American federalism amplifies some conflicts and mutes others in our ongoing debates about how best to reduce the harms associated with crime and punishment....The data provided are rich and multilayered; the argument presented is concise, subtle, and persuasive....Miller's focus on agenda-setting and the relationship between structure and agency make this book an enormous breakthrough....The Perils of Federalism is a must-read."--Law & Politics Book Review
"This is a breakthrough book that for the first time brings structure of American federalism into the center of the analysis of America's punitive turn and the politics of crime control. Miller has produced compelling evidence that our political institutions, rather than our social peculiarities, provide the most significant explanation for our unprecedented degree of punitiveness."--Jonathan Simon, Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley Law School, and author of Governing through Crime
"Miller has produced a powerfully thoughtful empirical analysis of the various ways that American federalism amplifies some conflicts and mutes others in our ongoing debates about how best to reduce the harms associated with crime and punishment....The data provided are rich and multilayered; the argument presented is concise, subtle, and persuasive....Miller's focus on agenda-setting and the relationship between structure and agency make this book an enormous breakthrough....The Perils of Federalism is a must-read."--Law & Politics Book Review
The Politics of Community Crime Prevention explores the complex and often striking differences between national and local perspectives, particularly those of racial minorities, on crime prevention and the role that community residents should play in prevention programs. The book is a case study of efforts to implement the Department of Justice program Operation Weed and Seed in Seattle, Washington in the 1990s and draws on research on the racial politics of policing, social movements, public policy, and agenda-setting. While Weed and Seed was designed to involve local communities, in practice the program was largely top-down, from the DoJ, to state and local law enforcement and local political leaders. Organized groups in Seattle's target neighborhood -- an historically African-American community -- resisted Weed and Seed because it was insufficiently attentive to local concerns about economic and social development, political empowerment and, in particular, police violence. The book concludes that, while community involvement in crime prevention is a popular phrase, genuine community-centered crime control is focused not simply on pathological individuals and aggressive policing but on broad, economically and educationally based community development and empowerment. However, most policy to address crime remains largely police-centric, top-down, and individualistic, ignoring the systemic, structural components -- including racial bias -- that lead to crime and violence.
Journal Articles
“Checks and Balances, Veto Points, and Constitutional Folk Wisdom.” 2023. Political Research Quarterly.
“The Conservative Policy Bias of Senate Malapportionment.” 2022. PS: Political Science and Politics 56(1): 10-17.
"Racialized Anti-statism and the Failure of the American State." 2021. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 6(1): 120-143.
“American Exceptionalism or Exceptionalism of the Americas? The Politics of Lethal Violence, Punishment and Inequality.” 2021. Journal of the British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences. London: British Academy.
“Amending Constitutional Myths.” 2019. 67 Drake University Law Review 101-127.
“The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science.” 2018. Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14: 381-396.
“Black Women, Victimization, and the Limits of the Liberal State.” 2017. Theoretical Criminology: Special Issue 41(4): 478-493. With Shatema Threadcraft.
"What's Violence Got To Do With It? Inequality, punishment and state failure in American politics." 2015. Punishment and Society 17(2): 184-210.
“Racialized State Failure and the Violent Death of Michael Brown.” 2014. Theory and Event, Vol. 17, Issue 3.
“The (Dys)Functions of American Federalism.” 2014. Tulsa Law Review 49(2): 267-278.
“Power to the People: Violent Victimization, Inequality and Democratic Politics.” 2013. Theoretical Criminology 17(3): 283-313.
“The Local and the Legal: American federalism and its implications for the carceral state.” 2011. Special Issue of Criminology and Public Policy: Mass Incarceration 10(3): 725-732.
“The Invisible Black Victim: How American Federalism Perpetuates Racial Inequality in Criminal Justice.” 2010. Law and Society Review 44 (3/4): 805-842.
“The Representational Biases of Federalism: scope and bias in the political process, revisited.” 2007. Perspectives on Politics 5:2: 305-321.
"The Federal/State Criminal Prosecution Nexus: A Case Study in Cooperation and Discretion." 2005. Law and Social Inquiry 30(2): 239-268. With James Eisenstein.
"Rethinking Bureaucrats in the Policy Process: Criminal Justice Agents and the National Crime Agenda." Policy Studies Journal 32(4): 569-588.
"Sources of Informal Social Control in Chicago Neighborhoods." Criminology 42: 551-583. With Eric Silver.
"A Cautionary Note on the Use of Actuarial Risk Assessment Tools for Social Control." Crime and Delinquency 48: 131-161. With Eric Silver.
"Looking for PostModernism in All the Wrong Places: Implementing Weed and Seed in Seattle." British Journal of Criminology 41: 168-184.
"Taking it to the Streets: Reframing Crime Prevention Through Race and Community." Studies in Law, Politics and Society 20: 207-238.
“Checks and Balances, Veto Points, and Constitutional Folk Wisdom.” 2023. Political Research Quarterly.
“The Conservative Policy Bias of Senate Malapportionment.” 2022. PS: Political Science and Politics 56(1): 10-17.
"Racialized Anti-statism and the Failure of the American State." 2021. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 6(1): 120-143.
“American Exceptionalism or Exceptionalism of the Americas? The Politics of Lethal Violence, Punishment and Inequality.” 2021. Journal of the British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences. London: British Academy.
“Amending Constitutional Myths.” 2019. 67 Drake University Law Review 101-127.
“The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science.” 2018. Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14: 381-396.
“Black Women, Victimization, and the Limits of the Liberal State.” 2017. Theoretical Criminology: Special Issue 41(4): 478-493. With Shatema Threadcraft.
"What's Violence Got To Do With It? Inequality, punishment and state failure in American politics." 2015. Punishment and Society 17(2): 184-210.
“Racialized State Failure and the Violent Death of Michael Brown.” 2014. Theory and Event, Vol. 17, Issue 3.
“The (Dys)Functions of American Federalism.” 2014. Tulsa Law Review 49(2): 267-278.
“Power to the People: Violent Victimization, Inequality and Democratic Politics.” 2013. Theoretical Criminology 17(3): 283-313.
“The Local and the Legal: American federalism and its implications for the carceral state.” 2011. Special Issue of Criminology and Public Policy: Mass Incarceration 10(3): 725-732.
“The Invisible Black Victim: How American Federalism Perpetuates Racial Inequality in Criminal Justice.” 2010. Law and Society Review 44 (3/4): 805-842.
“The Representational Biases of Federalism: scope and bias in the political process, revisited.” 2007. Perspectives on Politics 5:2: 305-321.
"The Federal/State Criminal Prosecution Nexus: A Case Study in Cooperation and Discretion." 2005. Law and Social Inquiry 30(2): 239-268. With James Eisenstein.
"Rethinking Bureaucrats in the Policy Process: Criminal Justice Agents and the National Crime Agenda." Policy Studies Journal 32(4): 569-588.
"Sources of Informal Social Control in Chicago Neighborhoods." Criminology 42: 551-583. With Eric Silver.
"A Cautionary Note on the Use of Actuarial Risk Assessment Tools for Social Control." Crime and Delinquency 48: 131-161. With Eric Silver.
"Looking for PostModernism in All the Wrong Places: Implementing Weed and Seed in Seattle." British Journal of Criminology 41: 168-184.
"Taking it to the Streets: Reframing Crime Prevention Through Race and Community." Studies in Law, Politics and Society 20: 207-238.
