On the Justification and Recognition of Police Power: Broadening the Concept of Police Legitimacy

Abstract:     
This paper explores the idea that to confer legitimacy on the police is to feel not only obligated to obey the police but also morally aligned with the values of the police. A national probability survey of adults in England and Wales supports an extended version of Tyler’s procedural justice model of public cooperation with legal authorities. We find especially strong correlations between (a) negative contact with the police, (b) trust in police procedural justice, (c) obligation to obey the police (recognition of police authority) and moral alignment with the police (an endorsement of police values) and (d) willingness to cooperate with legal authorities. Our conclusions focus on an enlarged conception of police legitimacy that includes both recognition and justification of police power. If one part of legitimacy is disconnected from moral substance, and another part of legitimacy is connected to shared value positions, what does this mean for the influence of legitimacy in diverse societies?

Number of Pages in PDF File: 18

Keywords: public confidence, trust, legitimacy, cooperation, contact with the police

JEL Classification: K40

working papers series