Democracy and Criminal Justice in Cross-National Perspective: From Crime Control to Due Process

In this article, the author argues that the transformation of justice administration in democratizing countries is a transition from a crime control to a due process orientation. In authoritarian states, criminal justice systems rely on a larger law enforcement-punishment apparatus for order maintenance and produce higher rates of arrest, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration. By contrast, in liberal democracies, justice is sought as the defense of civil liberties through the due process of law, which leads to a heavier investment in the judiciary and a higher rate of case attrition in the criminal justice process. The analysis of United Nations data refutes the hypothesis of larger police and prison workforce in authoritarian countries and larger judicial staff in liberal democracies. Instead, democracy increases both the personnel strength of the courts and that of the police and the prisons. The proposed relationship between democracy and increased criminal case attrition receives very strong support.