Penitentiary System Vs Sweden Government

Penitentiary System
The United States and Sweden have astounding similarities despite the great barriers of water that separate the two countries. While the United States government is a Federal Republic and the Sweden government is a constitutional monarchy, they both have a very large legislature. The American legislature holds 534 members and the Sweden legislature holds 388, with both holding executive elections every four years (“Compare,” 1). Both countries are also members of the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These memberships are proof of these countries willingness and desire for cooperation and interconnectedness along with their purpose of promoting economic prosperity and infrastructure.
In addition, they each have impeccable gross national income per capita with the United States having a GNI of $55,980 and Sweden having a GNI of $57,920 (“Compare,” 1). These high measurements represent these countries net incomes from foreign productions. With the United States GDP being __ and Sweden’s being __ it can be concluded that the majority of their investments take place abroad in foreign countries (“Compare,” 1). The United States and Sweden are each ranked high up on the Economic Complexity Index (ECI), with Sweden ranking 4th and the United States one place behind in 5th (“Compare,” 1). This measurement is used to analyze a country’s economic system in a holistic way rather than using the sum of its parts. These countries generate various products of complexity with a wide range of uses, beneficiaries, and diversity. These two countries produce these goods in high numbers thereby stimulating the economy and promoting economic growth. Life expectancy is also similar and projected to be long in both countries with an expected 79 years in America and 82 years in Sweden (“Compare,” 1). The Supreme Court in both of these countries also has the greatest power in interpreting the
A penitentiary system is necessary to house convicted criminals. The United States penitentiary system currently suffers from mass incarceration, with the highest incarceration rate in the world, having more 2 million people incarcerated and thereby making up almost 22% of the entire worlds prison population (“Mass Incarceration in the USA,” 1). Sweden, on the other hand, has a prison population of 5,245 (Öberg, 1). A country’s overall population certainly is a key factor in the previous numbers stated, yet, if you look at the incarceration rate per 100,000 people, the number incarcerated in the United States is 666 and 53 in Sweden. This is a huge difference, one that demands answers. The United States is often depicted as encompassing a prison system that preys on minorities and the mental ill, resulting in overcrowded prisons with high rates of recidivism. These conditions can easily foster unfit treatment and abuse with an emphasis on punishment as a form of correction as opposed to a focus on rehabilitation. Sweden, on the other hand, has emphasized their support behind rehabilitation in the prison system, resulting in lowered crime and incarceration rates for its citizens. Sweden’s number of inmates is steadily continuing to drop as the United States simultaneously rises. These outcomes highlight a core difference in the prison institutions in