RT Article
T1 Politics of Crime Control: How Campaign-Style Law Enforcement Sustains Authoritarian Rule in China
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 60
IS 2
SP 422
OP 443
A1 Wang, Peng
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1692894315
AB How does campaign-style law enforcement sustain authoritarian rule? Drawing on fieldwork data and published materials, this article enhances the understanding of law and politics in authoritarian regimes by investigating the role of the ‘sweep away black' campaign—designed to combat organized and gang crime—in strengthening China's authoritarian regime. It argues that the campaign helps the party-state enhance its authoritarian rule by resolving the legitimacy crisis caused by economic slowdown, gangs' infiltration in grassroots political structures and problems of police corruption and shirking. But the campaign distorts the criminal justice system by demanding that criminal justice organs deliver severe and swift justice. It also harms China's private sector because local governments may expand the targets of repression to include private enterprises.
K1 Authoritarian rule
K1 Campaign-style  law enforcement
K1 Leor-ganized crime
K1 Severe and swift justice
K1 The ‘sweep away black' campaign
DO 10.1093/bjc/azz065