Crime and Politics

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Criminal groups and the state are often seen as antagonists: Politicians and bureaucracies aim to preserve public order and, in doing so, fight criminal groups who undermine it in their search for profit. However, the relationship between crime and politics is more complex. In some instances, states and criminal actors cooperate to provide public goods and enforce strict rules against "deviant" behavior. How does politics affect the criminal world? Why do criminals engage in political activities? Why do politicians delegate to criminal groups the provision of public order? What are the consequences for democracy of criminal-political partnerships? In this course, we want to understand how crime shapes politics and vice-versa. In the first part of the course, we will discuss essential concepts for the analysis of crime and politics. We will then explore different modes of criminal-political interactions, their causes and consequences. Throughout the semester we will look at past and present cases across the world—from 19th and 20th century US cities to the emergence of the mafia in Italy to contemporary Brazilian and Indian cities. We also use different sources (academic texts and popular culture, among others) to unveil the connections between the criminal "underworld" and politics.