Jessie Trudeau, assistant professor of political science, studies the relationship between politicians and criminal gangs—specifically, how candidates for office sometimes hire criminal organizations to be their brokers at election time. She was recently a guest on the Scope Conditions Podcast

Drawing on extensive interviews she conducted with politicians and gang members in Brazil, Trudeau explains in detail about the different forms that these politician-criminal collaborations can take—from one-off deals to long-term partnerships—and about the tactics that criminal organizations use—how they keep competing politicians out and how they induce voters to show up and cast their ballot the "right" way.

Listen to the full podcast here.