Anti-fracking protests and compliance with police: An examination of public opinion in the Anthropocene

Abstract

Few studies that investigate public views about compliance with police consider the environmental movement. The present study helps fill this gap in the literature by investigating attitudes about protester compliance with police at anti-fracking protests. Study data come from a representative sample of adults living in the United Kingdom ( n = 1051). Multivariate findings generated by ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and structural equation modelling show that the public is less likely to agree that anti-fracking protesters should obey police commands when they perceive that hydraulic fracturing is a risk. Moreover, views about hydraulic fracturing, the environment, protest and protesters all appear to influence perceptions that anti-fracking protest police act in ways that are procedurally (un)just. Procedural justice, in turn, is positively correlated with people’s attitudes that anti-fracking protesters should comply with police. These findings have important implications for future UK energy policy and state legitimacy.