NCJ Number
108174
Date Published
1987
Length
25 pages
Annotation
There are three basic conceptualizations of political crime: threats to the established political and social order, crimes by government officials, and any criminal act directed against authority.
Abstract
In analyzing political crime in Canada, the democratic perspective maintains that political crimes are committed by persons who are unwilling to abide by the will of the majority as expressed in democratically determined criminal laws. From this perspective, criminal justice sanctions and police measures are highly supported. The pluralist perspective emphasizes the notion of competing elites. The illegal use of elite positions or systematic corruption within the government or public offices is seen as threatening the process of pluralism and accommodating elite objectives. The conflict perspective suggests that political crime occurs because of corporate-dominated ruling class needs to cope with the inevitable contradictions resulting from capital accumulation in advanced industrial societies. These perspectives and their implications are discussed in relation to a broad range of Canadian political crimes, including the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, the Pacific Railway scandal, antistate terrorism, and other incidents of political corruption. 5 annotated references. (Author summary modified)