Criminalization in Republican Theory

Abstract

How is criminalization to be distinguished from other forms of regulation? Why should society resort to criminalization rather than regulation of another kind? What acts, on the face of it, call to be criminalized? And how ought society to criminalize: what penalties should it impose, what procedures should it follow? These are basic questions that any theory of criminal justice ought to address. This chapter outlines the responses to these questions that a republican theory of government, guided by the ideal of freedom as non-domination, would support.

Keywords: society, acts, penalties, procedures, republican, theory of government, freedom