Criminal Violence, the State, and Society
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12463524 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Omar García-Ponce (0000-0001-9187-0113, Department of Political Science and Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA; email: [email protected], corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 435-456 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Annual Review of Political Science (BOOK_SERIES) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1094-2939 • E-ISSN: 1545-1577 |
| Publisher | Annual Reviews (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1146/annurev-polisci-033123-014751 |
| OpenAlex | W4409352700 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 119 |
The study of criminal violence has received increasing attention in political science over the past 15 years, as organized criminal groups have grown and diversified worldwide, unleashing unprecedented waves of violence. This article presents a critical assessment of the current state of political science scholarship on criminal violence. It discusses the sources and dynamics of organized criminal violence, emphasizing the reconceptualization of state–criminal group relationships in the literature, shifts in illegal markets, and the political incentives fueling criminal wars. It also examines how states and societies respond to criminal violence. State responses include punitive approaches, institutional reform, and community-based interventions, while societal responses can be examined through the lenses of exit (e.g., migration, disengagement), voice (e.g., political participation, collective resistance), and loyalty (i.e., compliance with state authorities or criminal groups). The article also addresses conceptual and methodological challenges, policy implications, and ethical considerations inherent in this field of study and identifies promising pathways for future research
Criminology · Political science · Sociology · State (computer science · Computer Science · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses
Organized Crime, Violence, and Politics
The Impact of Crime and Insecurity on Trust in Democracy and Institutions
Cure Violence
Reducing Crime and Violence
Community policing does not build citizen trust in police or reduce crime in the Global South
Neighborhood Interventions to Reduce Violence
The Monopoly of Violence
Can Ecuador Avoid Becoming a Narco-State
Law Enforcement, Malfeasance, and Compensation of Enforcers
Trafficking Networks and the Mexican Drug War
Does illegality breed violence? Drug trafficking and state-sponsored protection rackets
Systemic violence in drug markets
Scarcity without Leviathan
Organized crime, corruption and punishment
Living in Gang-Controlled Neighborhoods
Indigenous Resistance to Criminal Governance
Narco Robin Hoods
Crime and Erosion of Trust
Limiting aggressive policing can reduce police and civilian violence
Diversifying violence
Income inequality and violent crime
Understanding the Laundering of Organized Crime Money
Violence, development, and migration waves
Who is to blame? Youth crime and attribution of responsibility in urban Mexico
Does “green gold” breed bloody violence? The effect of export shocks on criminal violence in Mexico
Moral reasoning and support for punitive violence after crime
Organized Crime in the United Kingdom
Narco-Messages
Cross-Border Spillover
The Social Origins of Institutional Weakness and Change
Deadly Populism
How Does Leadership Decapitation Affect Violence? The Case of Drug Trafficking Organizations in Mexico
Violence, Peace, and Government Intervention in Illicit Drug Markets
Family Matters
How Criminal Organizations Expand to Strong States
Fire Alarms for Police Patrols
Are voters too afraid to tackle corruption? Survey and experimental evidence from Mexico
From principles to practice
Increasing intergovernmental coordination to fight crime
Due Process and Homicide
Prosocial behavior amid violence
Community, Authorities, and Support for Vigilantism
Reforming to Avoid Reform
The Puzzle of Extra-Lethal Violence
Conceptualizing Criminal Governance
The Militarization of Law Enforcement
The Bukele Model
How Civil Wars Help Explain Organized Crime—and How They Do Not
The Beheading of Criminal Organizations and the Dynamics of Violence in Mexico
Understanding Mexico’s Drug Violence
The Contagion of Drug Violence
How Government Coordination Controlled Organized Crime
A Bargaining Theory of Criminal War
Civil War as State-Making
The Consequences of Militarizing Anti-Drug Efforts for State Capacity in Latin America
Addressing Violence Against Women
The Politics of Vigilantism
From Drug Lords to Police State
Legacies of Resistance
How Moral Beliefs Influence Collective Violence. Evidence From Lynching in Mexico
Grammar of Threat
In the Shadow of the State
Living in Fear
Progressive Ideology and Support for Punitive Crime Policy
Collusion, Co-Optation, or Evasion
Inequality and the Emergence of Vigilante Organizations
Resisting Displacement
Militarization and Perceptions of Law Enforcement in the Developing World
High-Profile Criminal Violence
Policy Preferences after Crime Victimization
The Verdict is in
The Old Rules No Longer Apply
Bullets and Votes
Community Policing and Latin America's Citizen Security Crisis
To Vote or Not to Vote
Criminal Politics
Escaping Precariousness
The Structure of Drug Trafficking Organizations and Money Laundering Practices
Anger and support for retribution in Mexico's drug war
Wartime ties and the social logic of crime
Covenants without the Sword? Comparing Prison Self-Governance Globally
Little evidence that military policing reduces crime or improves human security
Political Competition and Violence in Mexico
How Mafias Migrate
Self-Help, Policing, and Procedural Justice
Can War Foster Cooperation
Violence, kinship networks, and political resilience
Organized violence 1989-2023, and the prevalence of organized crime groups
The sources of social violence in Latin America
Organized criminal violence and territorial control
Bróderes in arms
Adjustments to gang exposure in early adolescence
Hiding violence to deal with the state
Governance and Prison Gangs
Do Mexicans flee from violence? The effects of drug-related violence on migration decisions in Mexico
Crime Victimization and Political Participation
Killing in the Slums
Legitimacy in Criminal Governance
Can Employment Reduce Lawlessness and Rebellion? A Field Experiment with High-Risk Men in a Fragile State
The Logic of Violence in Drug War
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |