When Elections Empower Crime

Political Protection and Milícia Expansion in Rio de Janeiro

Bibliographic Data

ID3000289
AuthorsBruno Pantaleão (0000-0002-9605-2483, Fundação Getulio Vargas, corresponding author), Isabella C Montini (0009-0000-0609-0017, University of California, Berkeley)
Year2025
Volume67
Issue4
Pages1-23
Publication date2025-09-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American Politics and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1531-426X • E-ISSN: 1548-2456
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/lap.2025.10026
OpenAlexW4414096841
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited49

Milícias are mafia-style organizations, often composed of current and former state agents, that have rapidly expanded in areas with limited state presence and weak legal oversight. In Rio de Janeiro, their territorial control is not maintained by coercion alone, but also through strategic political alliances. This article theorizes and tests a mechanism linking milícia expansion to electoral politics: milícias deliver concentrated electoral support to specific politicians, who in return shield their operations by influencing bureaucratic appointments and law enforcement priorities. Using original geospatial and electoral data, we show that milícia entry into a new area increases electoral concentration and disproportionately benefits milícia-aligned candidates in adjacent territories. We further demonstrate that this electoral capital is converted into political power through key bureaucratic appointments that facilitate further expansion and institutional impunity. Our findings support a theoretical framework in which elections reinforce, rather than constrain, criminal governance in democratic settings

Bureaucracy · Corporate governance · Democracy · Law enforcement · Politics · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Political Conflict and Governance

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