Policing Democracy
Overcoming Obstacles to Citizen Security in Latin America
Published on 24. June 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-8018-9858-7 (ISBN)
Description
Latin America's crime rates are astonishing by any standard-the region's homicide rate is the world's highest. This crisis continually traps governments between the need for comprehensive reform and the public demand for immediate action, usually meaning iron-fisted police tactics harking back to the repressive pre-1980s dictatorships. In Policing Democracy, Mark Ungar situates Latin America at a crossroads between its longstanding form of reactive policing and a problem-oriented approach based on prevention and citizen participation. Drawing on extensive case studies from Argentina, Bolivia, and Honduras, he reviews the full spectrum of areas needing reform: criminal law, policing, investigation, trial practices, and incarceration. Finally, Policing Democracy probes democratic politics, power relations, and regional disparities of security and reform to establish a framework for understanding the crisis and moving beyond it.
Reviews / Votes
"Very few scholars in the field have the grasp of recent changes in and problems of systems of citizen security in Latin America that this author has. His vision is comprehensive, extending from policing to the judiciary to the prison system." - Anthony W. Pereira, Tulane University"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
2 Karten, 6 Schaubilder
6 Figures; 2 Maps
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 147 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
540 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8018-9858-7 (9780801898587)
DOI
10.1353/book.60322
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2020
Johns Hopkins University Press
€30.99
Available for download
Book
06/2011
Johns Hopkins University Press
€64.00
Article not available for order
Person
Mark Ungar is a professor of political science at Brooklyn College and a professor of criminal justice at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has held several important fellowships, worked with international organizations such as the United Nations, and directed projects on community policing and on prison reform in Latin America. Ungar was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in 2004-5.
Content
List of Figures, Maps, and Tables
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Preface
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Realms of Change and Obstacles to Citizen Security Reform
Chapter 3. Citizen Security and Democracy
Chapter 4. Honduras
Chapter 5. Bolivia
Chapter 6. Argentina
Chapter 7. Overcoming Obstacles to Reform
Chapter 8. Conclusion
Appendix A: National Homicide Rates, 1995-2009
Appendix B: Citizen Security Structures and Police Ranks
Glossary
References
Index
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Preface
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Realms of Change and Obstacles to Citizen Security Reform
Chapter 3. Citizen Security and Democracy
Chapter 4. Honduras
Chapter 5. Bolivia
Chapter 6. Argentina
Chapter 7. Overcoming Obstacles to Reform
Chapter 8. Conclusion
Appendix A: National Homicide Rates, 1995-2009
Appendix B: Citizen Security Structures and Police Ranks
Glossary
References
Index