Book contents
- The Police and the State
- The Police and the State
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Role of the Police
- Chapter 2 The First Power of the Police
- Chapter 3 The Second Power of the Police
- Chapter 4 The Third Power of the Police
- Chapter 5 Democratic Priorities, Relationships, and Tensions
- Chapter 6 The Bases of, and Reasons for Seeking, Police Legitimacy
- Chapter 7 Procedural Justice in Policing Revisited
- Chapter 8 Policing with Public Reason
- Chapter 9 Policing Populism, Protecting Pluralism
- Chapter 10 Primary Goods, Policing States in Transition, and Natural Experiments
- References
- Index
Chapter 6 - The Bases of, and Reasons for Seeking, Police Legitimacy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 January 2023
- The Police and the State
- The Police and the State
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Role of the Police
- Chapter 2 The First Power of the Police
- Chapter 3 The Second Power of the Police
- Chapter 4 The Third Power of the Police
- Chapter 5 Democratic Priorities, Relationships, and Tensions
- Chapter 6 The Bases of, and Reasons for Seeking, Police Legitimacy
- Chapter 7 Procedural Justice in Policing Revisited
- Chapter 8 Policing with Public Reason
- Chapter 9 Policing Populism, Protecting Pluralism
- Chapter 10 Primary Goods, Policing States in Transition, and Natural Experiments
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter explores the value of and bases for police legitimacy. In doing so, it distinguishes between descriptive (or perceived, popular) legitimacy, and normative legitimacy, ultimately arguing that the latter is the natural ground of democratic policing and the more critical of the two, given policing’s commitment to practical, substantive justice. One of the principal hazards of descriptive legitimacy is its ability to yield a popular perception of policing’s legitimate authority that can sanction populist sentiments, ones that do not necessarily protect minority rights or honor a commitment to pluralism. Legitimacy is critical in the police pursuit of cooperation, especially in times of epistemic uncertainty, and the argument here is that the careful pursuit of substantive justice that conforms to the requirements of normative legitimacy will yield descriptive legitimacy across a substantial part of the community, and especially among its more marginalized or vulnerable members.
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- The Police and the StateSecurity, Social Cooperation, and the Public Good, pp. 106 - 128Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022