RT Article T1 When Law-And-Order Politics Fail: Media Fragmentation and Protective Factors That Limit the Politics of Fear JF The British journal of criminology VO 62 IS 5 SP 1270 OP 1288 A1 Lee, Murray 1965- A2 Ellis, Justin R. A2 Keel, Chloe A2 Wickes, Rebecca L. A2 Jackson, Jonathan 1974- LA English YR 2022 UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1838849580 AB Law-and-order politics has long been a topic of scholarly work. The leveraging of fear of crime for political capital has been of particular concern. In the 2018 election in the Australian state of Victoria, crime and law-and-order became prominent political issues, particularly through racialized discourse about ‘African gangs’. That election provides a case study here. This article turns the traditional analysis of the politics of fear of crime around and considers some of the key reasons why law-and-order politics failed to gain decisive political traction in this instance. Media fragmentation and diversification continues to challenge the primacy of political primary definers in unpredictable ways. As such, electoral strategies that seek to leverage fear of crime and community insecurity need to be understood in the context of broader individual, community and social protective factors that might mitigate fear of crime. K1 Fear of crime K1 law and order politics K1 primary definer K1 media fragmentation K1 Social Cohesion DO 10.1093/bjc/azac038