In modern politics, "law and order" is an ideological approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime.
[1] Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws and even capital punishment in some countries.
To differing extents, crime has also been a prominent issue in Canadian, British, Australian, South African, French, German, and New Zealand politics.
The first prominent American politician to use the term in this era was Alabama governor George Wallace, who used the phrase as a political slogan and racial dog whistle in his 1968 presidential campaign.
[12][13][14][15] Additionally, after the April 4, 1968 murder of Martin Luther King, a new wave of riots broke out in over 100 cities, with nights of violence against police and looting and burning of local white-owned businesses.
[16] In response to sharply rising rates of crime in the 1960s, treatment of criminal offenders, both accused and convicted, became a highly divisive topic in the 1968 U.S. presidential election.
[19] The phrase was used repeatedly by Donald Trump in his presidential nomination acceptance speech in 2016, which Salon.com interpreted as an intentional reference to Nixon's use of the term.
[21] "Law and order" has been a political rallying call in the United Kingdom, particularly under Margaret Thatcher (Leader of the Conservative Party 1975–1990; Prime Minister 1979–1990).
[22][23] The term was parodied as "Laura Norder",[24] and entered popular culture, for example in the sarcastic song "Law & Order" by the Tom Robinson Band (1979).
As an example, they argue that while crime in New York City dropped under Mayor Giuliani, reports of police brutality increased during the same period.
[28][29] Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a role model of tougher sentencing campaigners for his hardline corrections policies, was investigated by the FBI – starting in 2009 – for alleged abuses of power and intimidation of dissenting officials, among other controversies.
[32] Jeremy Mayer, at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, has argued that the term is used as a way to emphasize racial backlash in politics without appearing racist.
"[36] In the wake of the 2021 United States Capitol attack, criticism from columnists and outlets mounted on Republican politicians seen as "abandoning" or otherwise being hypocritical of being known as the "law and order party.