23 Feb 2023

46

Politics: The Science of Government

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Academic level: College

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Pages: 2

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Politics can be explained as the science and art of guiding federal policy and running a government. In a democratic country, politicians select decision-makers in the criminal justice system. For instance, the elected mayor has the responsibility of appointing chiefs of police. Likewise, the President appoints justices of the Supreme Court. Politics also has a role of lawmaking in the justice system. Criminal law, nowadays, is a matter of statute, meaning the laws are made by legislative bodies that decide what actions are regarded as illegal and what punishment should be imposed on those who commit these offenses (Nadel, Scaggs & Bales, 2017) . Politics influence the rules that are passed by the legislative assemblies. Another role of politics in criminal justice is influencing the law enforcement style, informal norms, and formal departmental policy. Although police departments try to stay away from politics as much as they can, the political environment of a local area will profoundly impact the department. The local government determines how police services are provided to citizens (Vinjamuri & Snyder, 2015) . Elected officials have the role of appointing police administrators and firing them. Politics also exist in the prosecution process. Prosecutors in many jurisdictions are officials who have been elected, and this makes the system highly political. For example, US attorneys at the federal level are appointed through a political process. Besides, the career paths of most federal attorneys are often linked to a political party. That is why both state and federal prosecutors use this platform to launch their political careers. Lastly, politics play a significant role in the corrections process. In many jurisdictions, jail operations at the local level are connected to the sheriff's office, which in turn ties operations of the local jail to the election and reelection of a particular person as sheriff. Although it seems like politics has a very significant role in influencing the practice and politics of criminal justice organizations, this political influence is controlled by professional organizations, such as police research companies, national police management organizations, and the state (Vinjamuri & Snyder, 2015) . The organizations conduct regular monitoring and evaluation activities on the criminal justice system and publish best practice models. For instance, a chief officer with super-majority and severance clauses cannot be abruptly fired. Therefore, relevant professional bodies reduce the role of politics in the operations of justice departments. 

It is true, as noted by Norton Long, that ‘'Politics is the lifeblood of administration.” Blood sustains the body of human beings and animals. Likewise, politics overruns the administration field. Power is the backbone of administration because it has many interest groups, and loyalty is not guaranteed. Therefore, administrators are always in a battle for survival. In the administration of criminal justice, the effectiveness of power is determined by its legitimacy (Nadel, Scaggs & Bales, 2017) . For organizations to survive, administrators have to display legitimate power. For example, the effectiveness of how the President can impart power depends on the forces that he can influence. Therefore, through politics, his power can be sustained in criminal justice organizations. Criminal justice organizations are designed to protect US citizens. Unfortunately, they do not live up to this great responsibility. The power granted to these systems often corrupts them, and as long as there are people with ulterior motives, abuse of power and corruption will be there. Since the inception of criminal justice, the system has experienced its fair share of abuse of power (Nadel, Scaggs & Bales, 2017) . Therefore, there is an urgent need for the system to be rectified. The first step is understanding the injustices that occur in administering justice and using the powers granted to the organization to amend these cases. Without correcting this, the system will collapse. 

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References 

Nadel, M. R., Scaggs, S. J., & Bales, W. D. (2017). Politics in punishment: The effect of the state attorney election cycle on conviction and sentencing outcomes in Florida.  American Journal of Criminal Justice 42 (4), 845-862. 

Vinjamuri, L., & Snyder, J. (2015). Law and politics in transitional justice.  Annual Review of Political Science 18 , 303-327. 

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StudyBounty. (2023, September 15). Politics: The Science of Government.
https://studybounty.com/politics-the-science-of-government-essay

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