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In Denton and Morris’ The Money and the Power (2001), we get an excellent sociological illustration of the relationship between organized crime and politics in the United States. We do so because we see that it is most often the most powerful, most wealthy, and most influential individuals in American society who are the real power behind the workings of organized crime. Without the sanction of these individuals, it would be impossible for organized crime to exist as it does because there would be no political influence of law enforcement control regarding its activities. Meyer Lansky who was responsible for creating what is now the economic Mecca of gambling known as Las Vegas, understood all too well how it was the wealthy and politically powerful who maintained the power providing the fuel for the proceeds of organized crime. As Denton and Morris (2001) report, “He adopted another grander axiom as well: That crime and corruption were no mere by-products of the economics and politics of his adopted country, but rather a cornerstone” (22).

Lansky’s world was the hands-on grit of pimps and prostitutes, protection and extortion, bootlegging and narcotics, and as Denton (2001, et al.) maintains, “legitimate business fronts, corrupt police, and ultimately, always, the rich and powerful who owned it all but kept their distance” (22). We see how men like Joseph Kennedy were as corrupt as major underworld crime bosses, including bootlegging and influence th

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argues that decriminalizing vice would help erode structural contradictions and dissolve the inevitable crime networks that vice always manifest in society. THREE Chambliss (1988) defines state-organized crime as “acts committed by state or government officials in the pursuit of their job as representatives of government” (327). Chambliss argues that governments routinely involve themselves in assassination attempts, terrorist activities, smuggling of arms and drugs, and other so-called state crimes. While statistics on state-organized crime are rare, it is apparent that for centuries states have routinely committed criminal acts, particularly covert operations of intelligence agencies like the British Secret Service or the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Many researchers define state-organized crime as the ultimate structural contradiction. This is primarily because the state is the entity that gains legitimacy through enacting laws and using law enforcement agencies and officials to enforce them. However, the state routinely undermines its own legitimacy by engaging in the very acts it prohibits by law because of competing legitimate goals it uses to justify its illegal behavior. Therefore, the very legitimacy grant
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Approximate Word count = 2408
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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