Mini-Conference on Democracy and Organized Crime: Public Security in Conflict & Post-conflict Settings

Session Submission Type: Created Panel

Part of Mini-Conference

• Mini-Conference on Democracy and Organized Crime

Session Description

Our third panel explores the politics of law enforcement by examining the interactions between criminal groups, police forces, and elected candidates. In conflict and post-conflict settings, political incentives of criminal actors and politicians often condition security assistance. This panel explores the politics of law and order in Latin America, placing particular emphasis on Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Within these states, the persistent issue of police violence and the lack of police reform have significantly shaped public sentiments toward law enforcement. The papers presented in this panel draw upon original datasets derived from survey and survey experiments, administrative data, and extensive qualitative information. Together, these papers shed light on the complex interplay involving elected officials, police officers, criminals, and citizens within societies marked by racial tensions and eroded democratic structures, especially in the context of widespread police violence.

Sub Unit

• Division 21: Conflict Processes

Individual Presentations

• The State That Forges Armed Criminal Groups - Ana Paula Pellegrino, Georgetown University

• Evidence from the Andean Coca Economy - Andres Uribe, Stanford University

• The Politics of Policing: Origins of Uneven Distribution of Security in Colombia - Manuel Moscoso, Brown University

• Decentralize Policing? Insights from Mexico City Residents - Jessica Zarkin, Claremont McKenna College

Chair

• Angelica Duran-Martinez University of Massachusetts, Lowell

Discussant

• Anna Maria Wilke New York University