Elections and the Politics of Crime - Budgetary Choices and Priorities in America (From Political Science of Criminal Justice, P 238-252, 1983, Stuart Nagel et al, ed. - See NCJ-87705)

• NCJ Number: 87717
• Author(s): G A Caldeira
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Charles C. Thomas
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

An examination of relevant data from presidential administrations shows significant increases in budgets and alternations in priorities among executive agencies dealing with crime in election years, but such changes do not evidence rational long-term policy planning.

Abstract

To estimate the developed equations bearing upon political influences in criminal justice policy, two sorts of data on presidential administrative actions were obtained: data on budgetary actions and data on the incidence of crime. Budgetary actions included annual presidential requests and congressional appropriations. Crime data were taken from the Uniform Crime Index. Measures of presidential and congressional priorities derived from each agency's share of the total amount requested and appropriated for criminal justice in a particular year. For the total budget and for the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Attorneys, i.e., courts and justice, the President has on average requested significantly greater budgets during an election year than in other years. This done without regard to crime patterns. It is disturbing to know that politicians who shift the priorities of the Federal Government's fight against crime and who manipulate choices in the face of elections may do so with little regard for efficiency and balance. To make a quick and sensational effort in criminal justice, a president must make allocations that may not prove sound over the long run, such as focusing on crime fighting technology rather than the education and training of criminal justice personnel. Nineteen references are listed.