ABSTRACT
Well established among political theorists is the idea that government exists to provide security for its citizens. Although governments have taken on many other functions such as redistribution, the primary responsibility of government remains protecting citizens from outsiders and each other. The subfield of international relations studies extensively the efforts of the United States and other countries to defend their residents from external threats. However, Americanists largely have neglected to study how the U.S. protects its citizens domestically, ceding much of the study of U.S. criminal justice policies to sociologists and criminologists. This oversight is surprising given the fact that according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. governments spent nearly $193 billion on law enforcement, courts, and corrections in 2005, and employment in these areas has doubled since 1980.
