Liberal Versus Conservative Public Policies on Crime: What was the Comparative Track Records During the 1990s?

• NCJ Number: 223933
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 36 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 316-325
• Author(s): Ling Ren; Jihong Zhao; Nicholas P. Lovrich
• Date Published: August 2008
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the effectiveness of social-control and social-support policies toward violent crime reflective of conservative and liberal political ideologies in large U.S. cities during the 1990s.

Abstract

The study found that both the conservative and liberal strategies toward violent crime were shown to have merits that contributed to reductions in violent crime. More spending on law enforcement (conservative strategy) did indeed reduce violent crime; and more funding for community development (a liberal strategy) contributed to a reduction in violence among the cities studied. These findings suggest that an effective public policy for crime control should combine the merits of both the conservative and the liberal perspectives on crime. This means cities should pursue increased resources for policing and for community development that addresses the socioeconomic factors related to crime, such as employment levels, poverty, and education. The data used in this analysis were derived from four primary sources: the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (data on violent-crime variable); the Annual Finance Survey of City Government conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau (variable on government spending in U.S. cities); data on city annual unemployment rate for1990 to 2000; and data on standard demographic information for individuals and households at the city level in the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census reports. The dependent variable was UCR data for violent crimes per 100,000 population. Independent variables were the annual police expenditure per resident and the annual court expenditure per resident (variables related to conservative ideology), as well as the annual expenditure per resident on community development and the annual expenditure per resident on park and recreational facilities (variables related to liberal ideology). Seven control variables accounted for differences in the socioeconomic health of the cities reviewed. 1 figure, 2 tables, 79 references, and appended supplementary data