Political Process and Crime

If politics is the authoritative allocation of values, then crime and politics are inextricably linked. Substantive criminal laws articulate, as do few others, the basic values of society. Agencies of law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice possess a near-monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, and exercise vast power in deciding whether and how to enforce the law. The criminal justice system is composed of a sizable set of government officials who together have an important impact on politics. The symbols of crime affect the nature of political promise and expectation.