The Effects of Criminal Organization Presence on Citizen-State Interactions

• In Event: New Frontiers in the Study of Crime and Violence

Abstract

In areas affected by criminal organization presence, local populations must adapt to new conditions. The arrival of a criminal group brings many changes for the local population: recruitment, sale of drugs, extortion of businesses, imposition of new rules, and an increase in violence are all possible. Despite these wide-ranging effects, as of yet, we still do not understand the full range of political implications of criminal group activity. Citizens play an active role in such environments, choosing between various actions in the face of organized criminal presence: self-defense groups, protests, security roundtables, and street masses are only some of the reactions we observe. My project asks why, when faced with the same phenomenon of increased criminal organization presence, do citizens in some places pursue solutions through the state while in other places they pursue private solutions, going around the state? The article utilizes a mixed-methods approach to examine the effects of criminal organization presence on citizen-state interactions in municipalities across Mexico. This subnational analysis demonstrates the importance of three factors: the strength of pre-existing civil society, number of criminal organizations, and state autonomy affect citizens’ decisions to accommodate the presence of organized crime, contest through the state, or contest through private means. This article makes two contributions: first, I expand our understanding of citizen engagement with the state by examining environments affected by criminal violence. Second, my project contributes to a growing literature on organized crime, moving beyond violence to understand the political effects that these groups have on communities in Latin America.

Author

• Kaitlyn Chriswell, Harvard University