Prosecutorial Culture in the Fight Against Organized Crime

After transitions to democracy, Latin American countries reformed their justice systems to enhance criminal prosecution. At the same time, organized crime became the leading public security issue. Despite similar institutional structures, Guatemala reduced significantly homicide impunity, while Mexico maintains a rate above 95%. These differences in effectiveness should be explained by state capacity, but the disparity between countries suggests otherwise. I argue that the prosecutorial culture within these new institutions creates distinct paradigms for understanding and addressing organized crime, increasing effectiveness. I identify two cultures: policy-oriented and legalistic. To test my theory, I will focus on Public Prosecution Offices. I will adopt a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. I will conduct case studies in Guatemala and Mexico using process tracing to assess the role of prosecutorial culture and use text analysis for processing judgments to evaluate the impact of prosecutorial culture on prosecutors’ strategies.