The Impact of Political Networks on Citizen Security: El Salvador

El Salvador suffers some of the highest rates of violence in the world. Following the end of the civil war, violence in El Salvador remained high with politicians and media outlets blaming maras for being the perpetrators of violence and insecurity in the country. Governments began to employ repressive anti-crime measures to remedy the country of high rates of violence, however, repressive policies were highly ineffective; led to serious prison overcrowding and failed to address the underlining structural causes of the problem. After years of ineffective repressive measures, the diffusion of preventive measures across the region by international actors had a positive impact in the reduction of crime levels and increased the state’s capacity to combat crime and improve citizen security. This thesis explores the effect of citizen security measures on the maras' violence problem in El Salvador. I argue that El Salvador’s shift from repressive anti-crime measures to preventive measures...Show moreEl Salvador suffers some of the highest rates of violence in the world. Following the end of the civil war, violence in El Salvador remained high with politicians and media outlets blaming maras for being the perpetrators of violence and insecurity in the country. Governments began to employ repressive anti-crime measures to remedy the country of high rates of violence, however, repressive policies were highly ineffective; led to serious prison overcrowding and failed to address the underlining structural causes of the problem. After years of ineffective repressive measures, the diffusion of preventive measures across the region by international actors had a positive impact in the reduction of crime levels and increased the state’s capacity to combat crime and improve citizen security. This thesis explores the effect of citizen security measures on the maras' violence problem in El Salvador. I argue that El Salvador’s shift from repressive anti-crime measures to preventive measures is an effect/result of political networks that incorporate the participation of NGOs, the private sector, civil society, and international community in the formulation of policy to attain citizen security in the country.Show less

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The Impact of Political Networks on Citizen Security: El Salvador