What motivates voters to support candidates with backgrounds in public security for Brazil’s National Congress, the so-called Law & Order (L&O) politicians? The 2018 elections witnessed a surge in parliamentarians from police and military backgrounds and the election of a president closely aligned with this agenda. We explore whether this trend correlates with municipal-level violence indicators and the presence of municipal capacity in the security sector, employing various regression models that account for socioeconomic, demographic, political, and geographic factors. Our […]

The development of intelligence and internal security institutions in Portugal and Brazil were directly influenced by the ways in which both countries transitioned to democracy and by the nature of their political regimes prior to the mid-1970s. This article compares these processes, highlighting how Brazilian and Portuguese intelligence and public security institutions and bodies developed over the course of the 20th century, and in particular following democratization of their political regimes. Our analysis examines the main factors explaining the arrangements […]

After three decades of democratic reforms, the literature on Latin American civil-military relations has shifted its focus from the military towards civilian elites. Following this trend, this article offers a contribution to the study of the ‘civilian variable’ by examining two controversial decisions taken by Argentina since 2011: the empowerment of an army official who gained influence over key areas of national defense; and the involvement of the armed forces in anti-drug operations. While the literature often relates setbacks in […]

This article addresses the relationship between the privatization of security and the State in contemporary Mexico City. By presenting an analysis of the development of the local private security market, its regulatory framework and the problems stemming from inefficient enforcement of legal standards, it demonstrates that private security in Mexico City is not beyond the State. Rather, through formal and informal practices, the local state and its public security agencies play a central role within the recent transformations of local […]