Dr Nirvikar Jassal

This course is available on the MSc in Political Science (Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics), MSc in Political Science (Global Politics), MSc in Political Science (Political Behaviour), MSc in Political Science (Political Science and Political Economy), MSc in Public Policy and Administration and MSc in Regulation. This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: To apply for a place on this course, please submit a short statement of no more than 200 words via LfY. Your statement should outline your reasons for applying and explain how the course will support your academic and/or career goals. If applicable, you should also demonstrate how you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide. If the course is compulsory for your programme, no written statement is required.

Priority for places on Government (GV) courses will be given first to students for whom the course is compulsory. Where applicable, priority will then be given to students on the Department of Government programmes listed in the ‘Availability’ section of the course guide, followed by students on other programmes listed in that section. Students on all other programmes will be considered next, where a course is available as an outside option. You should ensure that you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide before applying. Places on capped courses cannot be guaranteed. Where a course is oversubscribed, places will be allocated based on programme priority and the written statement.

Deadline for applications: The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Friday 25 September 2026. You can expect to be informed of the outcome of your application by 12:00 noon on Monday 28 September 2026. Any places remaining after this date will be allocated based on priority and written statement - up until course selection closes.

For queries contact: gov.msc@lse.ac.uk.

Familiarity with basic research design and introductory statistics is strongly recommended but not mandatory, and students who have not had research design in the past will still be able to excel in the class.

This course examines the intersection of politics and criminal justice—focusing on both law enforcement and the judiciary—through a comparative lens. While crime and punishment have long been studied in criminology and sociology, political scientists have only recently begun to systematically engage with these issues. This course bridges that gap by analyzing how political structures shape criminal justice institutions and how these institutions, in turn, impact governance, democracy, and social equity. The course explores critical questions such as: Do judges exhibit bias based on race, caste, or gender? Can community policing improve public trust in law enforcement? How do gender or minority hiring quotas in policing affect police legitimacy and crime reporting? To what extent do electoral incentives shape policy responses to crime? The readings draw from a wide range of empirical studies in political science and economics, applying causal inference methods to evaluate the effectiveness of criminal justice policies. Topics include access to justice for marginalized communities, policy interventions to deter gender-based violence, and the role of legal institutions in perpetuating or mitigating systemic inequalities. Designed to engage with diverse theoretical perspectives and global case studies, the syllabus incorporates scholarship on legal systems from various regions, including caste-based policing in India, gender-based violence mitigation mechanisms in Europe, and crime control policies in Latin America and Africa. Seminar discussions are structured to encourage critical engagement with these varied viewpoints. By introducing students to methodological advancements in social science with substantive discussions on justice and inequality, this course equips students with the analytical tools to assess real-world policy debates on crime, law enforcement, and the judiciary. Through this comparative and empirical approach, students will develop a deeper understanding of how political institutions shape criminal justice outcomes and which reforms have been most effective in creating fairer, more accountable systems.

20 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Essay plan.

As a formative assessment (due in the AT), students will be expected to produce an outline for their final essay. This will enable them to gain feedback about their research question and methodology for their final or summative assessment.

Blair, Robert A., Sabrina M. Karim, and Benjamin S. Morse. 2019. “Establishing the Rule of Law in Weak and War-Torn States: Evidence from a Field Experiment with the Liberian National Police.” American Political Science Review 113 (3): 641–57.

Abrams, David S., Marianne Bertrand, and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2012. “Do Judges Vary in Their Treatment of Race?” The Journal of Legal Studies 41 (2): 347–83.

Vanden Eynde, Oliver, Patrick M. Kuhn, and Alexander Moradi. 2018. “Trickle-Down Ethnic Politics: Drunk and Absent in the Kenya Police Force (1957–1970).” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 10 (3): 388–417.

Blair, Graeme, Jeremy M. Weinstein, Fotini Christia, Eric Arias, Emile Badran, Robert A. Blair, Ali Cheema, Ahsan Farooqui, Thiemo Fetzer, and Guy Grossman. 2021. “Community Policing Does Not Build Citizen Trust in Police or Reduce Crime in the Global South.” Science 374 (6571).

McCrary, Justin. 2007. “The Effect of Court-Ordered Hiring Quotas on the Composition and Quality of Police.” American Economic Review 97 (1): 318–53.

Essay (100%) in Winter Term Week 2.

The summative assessment comprises one final take-home essay which will be either (a) an essay on the readings or, alternatively, (b) on an original research topic following discussion with the convenor.