Private Prisons Case Study

Privately owned prisons began to emerge in the mid-1980s. These prisons emerged because of the ideological imperatives of the free market, the huge increase in the number of prisoners, and the substantial increase in imprisonment costs. (1) Proponents of privatized prisons put forward a simple case: The private sector can do it cheaper and more efficiently. Corporations such as Correction Corporation of America and Wackenhut promised design and management innovations without reducing costs or sacrificing quality of service. (1) Many interest groups comprised of correctional officers, labor works, and a few citizen groups strongly oppose the privatization of the prison system. I will identify four of these groups that oppose private prisons,
I have learned that when these groups work with other groups for a common cause they are more likely to become successful. I have also learned that the Corrections interest groups and the Labor groups seem to have more resources and more connections with influential people. The Corrections interest groups are more likely to gain support of police chiefs, other correction officers and other law enforcement officials than a citizens group would. They are also more likely to get the attention of key constituents. Also, I have learned that the groups like OPSEU that try many different strategies have been more successful. They utilized strategies such as lobbying government officials, protesting, petitioning, informing the press and the public, and lobbying municipalities to bar private prisons. They have been quite successful in their varying efforts. Citizens Against Private Prisons have been less effective. They have mostly aimed their efforts at informing the press and public. When they tried to get an initiative on a ballot, they were unable to because they were inexperienced in politics. This group is new and probably had no idea what they are in for. More experienced groups like OCSEA and AFSCME-CU have been more successful at lobbying for legislation. This is most likely because they have been around for a long time and are more experience and more political connections. In conclusion, I have learned that no matter how strongly an interest group believes in a cause, success does not come from strong opinions and a little hard work. Success comes from many different resources. These resources include money, political connections, size, knowledge, experience, credibility, and expertise. Interest groups need these resources in order to influence the policy making