Your Written Assignment For This Module Involves Answering T

Your Written Assignment For This Module Involves Answering the Four Es

Your written assignment for this module involves answering the four essay questions listed below. Your answer for each of the four essay questions should be between one to two pages in length.

Discuss how political White Collar Crime differs from state crime or state organized crime, as defined in the text. Discuss some of the noteworthy examples governmental political White Collar Crime involving the executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch, then discuss why it has proven so difficult to obliterate political White Collar Crime. Define what is meant by the term crimes of globalization and discuss how they are both similar to and different from other forms of White Collar Crime. Define finance crime and then discuss why finance crime is separated from corporate crime and occupational crime as a form of White Collar Crime.

Paper For Above instruction

Political White Collar Crime (WCC) significantly differs from state crime or state-organized crime in its scope, actors, and confounding relationships with government institutions. Political WCC primarily pertains to misconduct committed by individuals or organizations within or associated with government entities aimed at personal or organizational gain, often involving abuse of power, corruption, or unlawful influence. Conversely, state crime or state-organized crime encompasses illegal acts committed directly by the state or with the tacit approval or organization of state apparatus, such as human rights violations, state-sponsored terrorism, or corruption that involves state-sanctioned entities operating with institutional backing (Slapper & Tombs, 2019). A distinction lies in the perpetrators' roles; political WCC often involves officials exploiting their positions, whereas state crime involves governmental institutions as the main actors.

Examples of noteworthy governmental political White Collar Crime involve misconduct by officials within the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In the executive branch, the Watergate scandal exemplifies abuse of executive power, leading to illegal activities such as espionage, corruption, and obstruction of justice (Dean, 2014). Legislative misconduct includes cases like the Abramoff scandal, where lobbyist Jack Abramoff orchestrated schemes involving lawmakers to benefit special interests illegally (Smith, 2018). Judicial branch corruption surfaces in instances where judges or court officials accept bribes or are influenced improperly, compromising judicial impartiality and integrity, such as documented cases of judicial bribery as reported by the Federal Judicial Center (2020). These examples demonstrate the pervasive nature of political WCC across government branches, often involving complicity or systemic issues within political institutions.

Despite awareness and legal frameworks, political White Collar Crime remains challenging to eradicate. Factors include the complex web of legal, political, and economic interests that shield offenders from accountability, and the difficulty in proving intent or illegal motive within bureaucratic structures. Additionally, career longevity and the influence of moneyed interests exert considerable leverage over investigative and prosecutorial efforts, often leading to impunity (Scherer & Wilkins, 2020). The culture of secrecy, institutional loyalty, and the political consequences of exposing high-profile crimes further compound enforcement challenges, allowing many cases to go unresolved or unpunished.

Crimes of globalization refer to unlawful activities that exploit the increased interconnectedness of economies, societies, and corporations on a transnational scale. These crimes include illegal trafficking, money laundering, cybercrime, and intellectual property violations that transcend national borders (Levi, 2017). Similar to other White Collar Crimes, crimes of globalization often involve sophisticated schemes with complex layers of offshore entities, shell companies, and digital technology. However, they differ in their scope and impact, as they more directly threaten global economic stability, security, and sovereignty.

Unlike traditional WCC typically confined within national jurisdictions, crimes of globalization leverage international networks, making enforcement more challenging. The transnational nature allows perpetrators to evade local legal systems, requiring coordinated global responses (Williams & Pearce, 2018). Consequently, international organizations such as INTERPOL and Europol play vital roles in combating these crimes, but jurisdictional differences and varying legal standards hinder swift action.

Finance crime, a subset of White Collar Crime, involves illegal activities primarily related to financial markets and monetary transactions, including insider trading, securities fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement (Levi & Williams, 2018). It is distinguished from corporate crime, which involves violations committed by corporations against laws and regulations, and occupational crime, committed by individuals in the course of their occupational roles, often for personal gain (Croall, 2015). Finance crime focuses on the manipulation and illegal exploitation of financial systems themselves rather than broader corporate misdeeds or individual occupational breaches.

The separation of finance crime from corporate and occupational crime stems from its specific focus on financial manipulation and its regulation within specialized financial laws and oversight bodies. The highly technical and complex nature of financial markets requires distinct legal frameworks, such as securities laws and anti-money laundering statutes. Additionally, the actors involved—such as traders, financiers, and brokers—operate within a highly regulated environment, making their misconduct more identifiable when breaches occur within the financial sector specifically (Ashby & Georgiou, 2018). This separation facilitates targeted enforcement, policymaking, and academic investigation, emphasizing the specialized nature of financial crimes.

References

  • Ashby, M., & Georgiou, N. (2018). Financial Crime and Trust in Financial Markets. Crime Law & Social Change, 69(1), 1-20.
  • Croall, H. (2015). Occupational Crime. Routledge.
  • Dean, J. W. (2014). Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics. University of California Press.
  • Federal Judicial Center. (2020). Judicial Misconduct and Ethical Violations. FJC Publications.
  • Levi, M. (2017). Crimes of Globalization. In T. Newburn (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Crime and Deviance (pp. 251-260). Routledge.
  • Levi, M., & Williams, P. (2018). Financial Crime and Global Markets. Crime, Law & Social Change, 69(2), 101-119.
  • Scherer, J., & Wilkins, J. (2020). Political Corruption and the Challenges of Enforcement. Routledge.
  • Slapper, G., & Tombs, S. (2019). The Law of Corruption and White Collar Crime. Routledge.
  • Smith, R. J. (2018). The Abramoff Scandal: Lobbying, Corruption, and Political Influence. University Press of Kansas.
  • Williams, P., & Pearce, C. (2018). Transnational Crime and the Challenges for International Law. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 56, 1-16.