ABSTRACT
On the other hand, public security has deteriorated in many countries, and has become one of the overriding concerns of publics and observers alike. Crime, and violent crime in particular, seems to threaten the very foundations of the state and the regime. The fear of violence and sensation of insecurity leads to public support for draconian public policies, increased state violence against a perceived criminal class, and vigilante justice. Increasingly well-armed, well-funded, and well-organized criminal networks in ltrate democratic governments and threaten the state itself. In the most extreme cases, as in the border region between the United States and Mexico, certain areas of Rio de Janeiro, and some cities in Central America, the situation is reminiscent of a civil war with the state ghting multiple combatants who are also ghting each other. From the assassination of gubernatorial candidates in Mexico to the drug money nancing of campaigns, crime increasingly in ltrates politics, while ordinary politics are increasingly tinted by demands for an e ective public safety response.
