Conventional wisdom amongst scholars, as well as much of the public, sees crime as an attractive and easy political issue for politicians seeking to expand their popularity. Regardless of whether crime is on the rise, mass publics are believed to be poor risk assessors, predisposed to react to perceived criminal behaviour with support for singularly punitive policies. However, drawing on her forthcoming book The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics, Lisa Miller challenges this view, arguing the public perception of crime is close to reality, and politicians are often acting responsively, not opportunistically, to these trends
