Three-Strikes Law

The Political Process and Crime Control Policy

Who has the most influence on crime control policy? The president? The governor? Our representatives? Chapter 3 of Criminal Justice Policy, “Street-Level Bureaucracy: From Policy to Practice” takes us from theory to reality. Arsneault states,

“Without someone to implement it, policy is nothing more than words on a page. Furthermore, what is written as policy is often more theory than reality, because implementing a policy at the street-level is seldom as neat and clean as it appears on the page.” (p. 37).

First, select a crime control policy ( the three-strikes law)

In your paper:

• Summarize the key elements of the selected crime control policy.
• Explain the political process that sets the foundation for the selected crime control policy.
• Examine the role of the federal government when it comes to formulating crime control policy.
• Discuss how the U.S. Congress influences crime control policy of the states and ensures consistency of laws among the states (Note: Traditionally, crime control legislation falls under state legislatures. There are articles on various policies in the Arsneault, 2014, chapter.)

Your paper must:

• Be three to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) 
• Use at least FIVE scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
• Document all sources in APA style 
• Include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style