Penal moderation in Europe: Germany and France put to the test

This chapter summarises the findings of a joint French–German project on the penal cultures of these two countries with a view to penal moderation and how it is challenged. The backbone of this project was extensive data collection on the attitudes of the population, politicians and the media towards the role of punishment in society. The data are briefly presented and analysed to find out how these three spheres of society interact in the production of penal moderation. What we see is a dynamic between these three spheres of a constant renegotiation of rational restraint and passionate outbursts – a strained restraint. While these outbursts, as well as assumptions about attitudes in the population in particular, contribute to an increase in punitiveness, foremost in penal legislation, these reactions are themselves moderate in their outcome. The chapter concludes with reflections on the role of deliberation processes in a democratic society for penal culture.