The Political Economy of Citizen Security: A Conceptual Framework

Author
Flom, Hernán
Date
Aug 2018
Most Latin American countries face a systemic challenge in providing citizen security. In other words, the region’s current insecurity is not only the responsibility of state actors in isolation, but also a product of the entire policymaking process(PMP) to understand policy outcomes. Many problems in this area spring from the lack of coordination among state actors—or from coordination in the service of their own interests rather than those of the wider population. Addressing citizen
security thus requires considering the incentives of all actors involved in the policymaking process and the arenas in which they make decisions. This paper first reviews evidence-based studies, then presents a condensed theoretical framework
of the political economy of citizen insecurity. The paper concludes with recommendations for implementing this theoretical framework and evaluates the methodological and logistical challenges it presents.