Criminology Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Criminology Research Paper - Essay Example In the previous periods, citizens thought that the introduction of democracy would lead to reduction of abuse of power. However, with democracy, abuse of power is on the verge of increasing. The government crimes can be categorized in to a wide range, depending on the point of view of the citizens and the country of concern. Taking for instance; in Africa land grabbing is considered to be a governmental crime, while in the Western parts of the world, it is the opposite. However, scholars have tried to categorize different government crimes thus, finally coming up a conclusive number. The major ways in which governments abuse their powers include; Most governments tend to use a country’s resources for unintended and unplanned projects. This is a crime that is mainly caused by lack of accountability of the government officials (Grant & Keohane, 2005). The article explains that accountability is so problematic among all leaders globally. Most government officials take advantage o f the power placed upon them to misuse a country’s resources due to lack of accountability. In addition, other leaders use the resources on projects that they claim are meant to help the citizens. However, research shows that they are the key beneficiaries of these projects (Abraham, 2006). This is indeed a crime since; resources used on other projects should be used for the sake of the citizens. For instance, African government officials have been known to use their powers to enrich themselves before the end of their terms of leadership. Government officials also abuse the power rested upon them by coming up with projects that are worth lot of money without even consulting the citizens. This is abuse of power since; the officials take such actions on the basis that no one can question them. This is a case that was clearly manifested in Venezuela in the year 2006. Projects were started but the returns and revenues from the projects were not clearly shown. In addition, the exp enses of the projects were overly stated, giving rise to large figures (Coronel, 2006). The issue of bending and breaking of laws is also a crime committed by the government officials. Most governments in the world have put in place laws that they do not follow themselves. The legal accountability is exceedingly poor in most states because courts do not have a wide general authority over governments. Previously, it has been noted that the courts will only ask the leaders if they have performed their duties well. However, the courts do not follow up to know if the duties have been performed or the officials could be lying sometimes (Grant & Keohane, 2005). Governments have been involved in these crimes and many others such turning a deaf ear to the cries of the poor in the society. While citizens cry out for help with issues such as hunger, unemployment problems and poverty, the government takes no action to control these issues. Most government officials in the world have also been involved in rigging during elections in order to win the elections. This of course is a crime since; they will have attained leadership the wrong way. Again, in such cases the courts will do nothing to punish these leaders since; in most cases they will have no evidence of the crimes committed. Governments have also committed the crime of corruption against the citizens. This is decidedly different from the embezzlement of funds in the country. It involves the use of a country’s money to manipulate people in order to get what they want. For