An overview of issues in politics and crime notes the frustration and dilemmas of political decisionmakers as they confront the intractability of the crime problem and respond to public attitudes toward it. The review of politics and the criminal justice system characterizes the present situation as a postprogressive era, which involves a backlash against the reforms of the progressive period in American life and politics. The summary of the papers contains brief comments on those in each of the volume's subject categories: crime and politics, legislative politics and the criminal law, and politics and accountability in criminal justice institutions. All but one of the papers is based upon field research. The paper on crime and politics notes how both liberal and conservative politicians in the 1960's and 1970's failed to conceptualize the crime problem in a way that would address criminal victimizations. Papers on legislative politics and criminal law examine political factors that influence the content of criminal law, and papers pertaining to politics and accountability in criminal justice institutions focus on the impact of political influences on particular aspects of corrections and policing. Chapter references are provided. For individual papers, see NCJ 99578-84.