Political Process and Crime

Crime and the political process are linked on many levels. Political theory, ideology, and culture foster expectations about the substance and form of the criminal justice system. The structure of political institutions shapes the structure, and hence the substance and administration, of the criminal law. Discretion, inevitable in an over-determined system, gives rise to the politics of administration. Local political organizations rely upon the criminal process for their support, and in turn the criminal process is shaped by them. The symbols of crime, law, and order shape political rhetoric and public expectation.