New perspectives on crime,violence and insecurity in Latin America

This article introduces a Crime, Law & Social Change special issue on rethinking organised crime, collective violence and insecurity in contemporary Latin America. The five contributions, which among them cover the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, address the puzzle of why and how in the midst of the world’s most serious crime and violence crisis ‘stability’ and ‘political order’ are nonetheless maintained. Taking a critical distance to conventional scholarship on these problems, the present collection of papers shifts the focus from one on how democratic regimes and formal institutions of the state are affected to a broader one that puts the spotlight on the ‘real politics’ and ‘real governance’ of crime and violence in the region. Cultural aspects of the ‘collapse of legality’, the holding power of informal institutions and the workings of ‘crimilegal orders’ and ‘criminalized electoral politics’ are explored through variegated conceptual and methodological approaches drawn from political science, criminology, sociology, social psychology, cultural studies and investigative journalism.     

Correction to: Economic growth and political extremism

Public Choice - We provide the first parcel-level, time-series empirical analysis of municipal annexation behavior. We also exploit a unique natural experiment created by the incorporation and...     

Max Weber in the tropics: How global climate politics facilitates the bureaucratization of forestry in Indonesia

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is one of the most advanced global climate governance arrangements and we show that it contributes to the buildup of autonomous capacities and reliable procedures in areas of rather limited statehood. These partially unintended effects can be conceptualized as an increasing rational–legal bureaucratization, which has been initiated through both external and domestic actors as we illuminate in the case of Indonesia's forestry sector in the period from 2007 until 2017. Our finding is that a bureaucratization of a new kind is increasingly strengthened in Indonesia's forest despite enduring patterns of neopatrimonialism, emerging signs of new public management approaches, and the strengthening of functional equivalents such as community-based forest management. We thus claim that Max Weber's perspective on the prospects and problems of rational–legal bureaucratization is still valuable, even when travelling to the tropics.     

Confusing injury findings in a suicidal gunshot fired to the chest from a carbine with a sawed-off barrel

The stellate bullet entrance wound is one of the facultative features of a contact shot. For the formation of a star-shaped wound two factors are of special importance: first, an extensive bony support underlying the skin in the entrance region, and second, a strong propellant charge of the cartridge fired. Contact shots to the precordial region usually do not cause stellate entrance wounds, even if high-powered rifle ammunition is used. In the reported case, an injury pattern was observed that was not in line with normal findings and seemed confusing at first. Following a suicidal gunshot to the chest from a sawed-off carbine 98a (cal. 8 x 57 Js), a 4.5 cm wide, gaping bullet entrance wound with radiating tears was found. Instead of the usual pocket, the anterior thoracic wall showed a fist-sized area of destruction with extensive undermining of the subcutis. Not far from the entrance hole, a rib fragment had become displaced retrogradely thus perforating the skin from the inside out. The unusual pattern of findings could be explained by the fact that the barrel had been sawed off: as a result of this manipulation, a considerable part of the propellant charge had been converted outside the barrel, i.e. in the initial section of the bullet path.     

Diener dreier Herren? Kantonalbehörden und die Vollzugsvielfalt der arbeitsmarktlichen Bestimmungen im schweizerischen Asylrecht

Einer der viel beschworenen Vorteile des Föderalismus ist die Flexibilität, mit der sich zentralstaatliche Anliegen den regionalen Gegebenheiten anpassen lassen. Wir untersuchen diese Vorstellung am Beispiel des Asylrechts. Ausgangspunkt ist die Überlegung, dass die Vollzugsdelegation an die Kantone zu Prinzipal-Agent-Problemen führt und die Kantonalbehörden zu Dienern dreier Herren macht – der Bundesverwaltung, dern einheimischen Bevölkerung und regionalen Interessengruppen. Quantitativ zeigt sich, dass die Restriktivität der kantonalen arbeitsmarktlichen Ausführungsbestimmungen des schweizerischen Asylgesetzes nicht primär von der Nachfrage nach Arbeitskräften, sondern vom Einfluss ausländerfeindlicher Kräfte in den Kantonen bestimmt ist. Die Praxis der Erteilung von Arbeitsbewilligungen an Asylbewerber hingegen steht in keinem Zusammenhang zur Restriktivität der Regelungen und orientiert sich speziell in der Romandie an der arbeitsmarktlichen Lage. Auch wenn sich der Einfluss von Sonderinteressengruppen nicht nachweisen lässt, tanzen die kantonalen Entscheidungsträger so zumindest auf zwei Hochzeiten.     

Adolescent attitudes towards the police: A new generation

The attitudes toward the police (ATP) of a group of young inner city adolescents were investigated within the context of a program designed to teach dispute resolution skills and promote a dialogue with local police. ATP were measured using a 23 item questionnaire. The results indicated that while ATP were generally positive, girls held more positive ATP than boys and adolescents who reported negative experiences with the police had less favorable ATP. A confirmatory factor analysis of the questionnaire yielded three factors; attitudes toward police behavior, attitudes toward interaction with the police, and attitudes toward interaction with other adults. The results are in general agreement with earlier studies with other populations and have implications for programs designed to improve adolescent relationships with the police. Authors' Note: David E. Brandt and Keith A. Markus, Department of Psychology. We would like to thank Professor Maria Volpe, director of the Dispute Resolution Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Ms. Marjorie Cohen, Executive Director of the Westside Crime Prevention Program, for their invaluable assistance in the collection of the data used in this study.     

Personal Characteristics of MPs and Legislative Behavior in Moral Policymaking

Theoretical and empirical models of legislative decision making in parliamentary democracies typically neglect the policy preferences of individual MPs and instead focus on political parties and possible institutional constraints. We argue that MPs actually make judgments and decisions on the basis of their preferences, which are shaped by their personal characteristics. However, given the strength of parties in most parliamentary systems, the impact of personal characteristics on legislative behavior is rarely visible. Therefore, we examine a moral issue. Looking at cosponsorship, parliamentary speeches, and votes in the German Bundestag, we analyze the legislative procedure on the regulation of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in Germany in 2011. We show that the legislative behavior of MPs does not only reflect partisan conflict but is also influenced by the preferences of the constituents and MPs’ own personal characteristics such as: religious denomination, gender, and parental status.     

Direct Democracy: Protest Catalyst or Protest Alternative?

This paper presents the first investigation of whether direct democracy supplements or undermines the attendance of demonstrations as a form of protest behavior. A first approach assumes that direct democracy is associated with fewer protests, as they function as a valve that integrates voters’ opinions, preferences, and emotions into the political process. A competing hypothesis proposes a positive relationship between direct democracy and this unconventional form of political participation due to educative effects. Drawing on individual data from recent Swiss Electoral Studies, we apply multilevel analysis and estimate a hierarchical model of the effect of the presence as well as the use of direct democratic institutions on individual protest behavior. Our empirical findings suggest that the political opportunity of direct democracy is associated with a lower individual probability to attend demonstrations.