Fall 2026

Crime and Politics

CRIME AND POLITICS introduces concepts analyzing the criminal legal system from a political perspective, examining government responses to crime.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Marty Davidson3.6/5

Summary

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Prerequisites

Course map

(3 credits in POLI SCI, LEGAL ST, or SOC) and sophomore standing

    • 3 credits in POLI SCI
    • LEGAL ST
    take all
LEGALST/POLISCI 418

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Prerequisite text tree
  • All of
    • 3 credits in POLI SCI
    • LEGAL ST

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
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About this rating

Raw average: 3.50/5 from 4 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

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Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

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SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
SEM 001Classroom Instruction0 / 257
SEM 001Classroom Instruction25 / 253

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Student experience

the class

Introduction to various concepts that analyze the criminal legal system from a political perspective. Examines how governments respond to the problem of crime from a domestic and international perspective. In addition to understanding different frameworks on how crime emerges, focuses on four thematic questions: Why do national governments treat public safety as a public good? Why do political actors target certain behaviors as criminal offenses? Why do political efforts to reduce crime often reflect social inequalities within society? Why do poorly designed criminal policies often result in political backlash? Examines crime from each subfield of political science - American, Comparative, International Relations, and Political Theory. Adopts a holistic approach towards understanding the criminal legal system from a political perspective. Consider and challenge all viewpoints on how the current system operates.

difficulty & workload

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Topics

  • Government responses to crime (domestic and international).
  • Public safety as a public good.
  • Political actors targeting behaviors as criminal offenses.
  • Political efforts to reduce crime and social inequalities.
  • Poorly designed criminal policies and political backlash.

Skills

  • Analyze the criminal legal system from a political perspective.
  • Consider and challenge viewpoints on the criminal legal system.

Grades

Instructor

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Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

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Catalog observation history

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Selected offering source records
LEGALST/POLISCI 418 · Fall 2026

Crime and Politics

Recorded 2026-09-07
LEGALST/POLISCI 418 · Fall 2026

Crime and Politics

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
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    "title": "Crime and Politics",
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    "title": "Crime and Politics",
    "credits_min": 3,
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    "typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
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Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

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Model & dataset provenance
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