Exploring the Disciplinary State: The Pace and Pattern of ‘Getting Tough’ in Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom Since 1990

ABSTRACT Welfare states in rich democracies have returned to a more ‘disciplinary’ agenda in recent decades. This has occurred roughly simultaneously with the so‐called ‘punitive turn’ in criminal justice. We argue that it makes sense to analyse the two movements together, as manifestations of the novel concept of the ‘disciplinary state’. Empirically, we explore the contours of and political dynamics behind the disciplinary state in Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom. We study whether party‐political dynamics shape the extent and nature of disciplinary reforms. Based on qualitative and quantitative data on legislative change since the 1990s, we show that disciplinary trends can be found in all three countries, but the UK went furthest across the board, whereas Denmark has been strongest in terms of benefit conditionalities. Both Germany and Denmark lack a wholesale ‘punitive turn’ in criminal justice but have been more selective. Rather than traditional left–right politics, we find that specific party system constellations, especially two‐party systems appear to facilitate disciplinary politics. In multi‐party settings, dynamics are more contingent, but both social democrats and mainstream center–right parties have had an influence. Trajectories often depended on the strength of other types of parties, including right‐wing populists.