NCJ Number
136205
Date Published
1991
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This survey of literature on politics and crime discusses political crime, policing, and justice; criminal policymaking and development; criminology and criminal policy, and politics in the administration of justice.
Abstract
Most of the literature reviewed is from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, but there are references to Western Europe and the former Soviet Union. For various reasons, the study of politics and crime in common law countries has flourished in the past 2 decades. There are three areas in which an understanding of crime, criminal law, and justice in the context of political institutions has been fruitful. The first area is political policing which concerns how government responds to treats to its role as a guarantor of order. There has been some research on the practices of political policing agencies and substantial research on the manufacture of political deviance in times of crisis. The second research area addresses criminal law policymaking. Research in this area assists in understanding the relative importance of social groups and political actors in government. The third area of research addresses politics in the administration of justice. There has been a significant volume of research on the politics of controlling the discretion of criminal justice officials. 96-item annotated reading list