The Impact of Political Culture on the Efficiency of the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Culture is a reflection of the temperament, behavior, cognition, and customs of the people within a given society. In the political dimension, culture—through its influence on the determination of the type of governing political structure—creates a variable context in the patterns of rulers’ behavior, as well as in the levels of democracy and corruption across different countries. At the outset, the legislator in each jurisdiction, based on its fundamental principles within the framework of criminal policy, responds to behaviors that fall outside legal boundaries by prescribing punishments. The criminal justice system, as a component of the governing structure, operates in principle within this established framework, aiming to uphold legal norms and achieve desirable outcomes in the protection of societal values and individual rights. In practice, however, this condition may undergo transformation depending on the structure of power and the scope of authority granted to rulers, such that the outcome manifests in varying rates and statistics of corruption and rent-seeking across countries. This article examines the concept of political culture and its impact on the establishment of democracy and authoritarianism, which, in turn, influences the functioning of the criminal justice system and leads to either an increase or a decrease in corruption and rent-seeking.