Marxist criminology can be analyzed both as a theory of what is and as an ideology ofwhat ought to be. 7heory must beexaminedby logic andempir- zy Abstract ical evidence. A n ideology and its vision zyxw of thegood society must be exam- ined by comparison with other ideologies and real societies based on com- peting ideologies. Such comparisons would reveal that societies based on Murxist ideology have been unjust and repressive and do no/ represent a future for which criminologists should strive as Quinney urges them to do. zy 0 THEORY AND IDEOLOGY zyx IN MARXIST CRIMINOLOGY zyxw Comments on Turk, Quinney, Toby, and Klockars RONALD L. AKERS University of Iowa zyxwvut My primary task in my role of invited commentator is to re- mark on the original papers for this special issue of Crimin- ology by Richard Quinney, Austin Turk, Jackson Toby, and Carl Klockars. But I want in the process to make some general comments related to what I see as the central issue to which all the papers refer-the adequacy of American-style Marxist criminology as both a theory of crime and criminal justice in society and an ideology or political philosophy on which a better society can be or has been built. Action may be based on, and usually is based on, some combination of theory and ideol- ogy. However, in spite of disclaimers often made to the con- trary, I agree with Turk that the two, theory and ideology, are clearly separable. A theory is judged primarily by comparison with other theories and by empirical evidence on its validity. A philosophy is judged primarily by comparison with other phi- losophies and how it has worked in practice. I have written elsewhere on this issue and have analyzed Marxist theory with- CRIMINOLOGY, Vol. 16 No. zyxwvut 4, February 1979. 527-544 0 1979 American Society of Criminology 527