Institutions, political attitudes or personal values? A multilevel investigation into the origins of police legitimacy in Europe

Abstract

ABSTRACT The extent to which democratic regimes warrant the rule of law is considered to be vital for the quality of democracy. Thus, the perceived trustworthiness of the police, as the executive agency of the legal system, is attributed a significant importance. Notwithstanding, the bulk of empirical studies concerned with political support has so far not focused on trust in the police in its own right but rather as an ingredient of political trust which encompasses trust in representative and impartial institutions alike. By contrast, empirical studies in the field of police research investigate the impact of personal encounters with the police and the hereby conveyed sense of fairness. In a multilevel analytical setting, this study draws on the ESS 2010 data and aims to trace the effects of political attitudes, personality traits and personal values on various indicators of police legitimacy and by simultaneously taking selected macro-level indicators and their cross-level effects into account. The findings suggest that attitudes towards the police are, in part, a function of whether citizens are politically involved or rather alienated. Moreover, they corroborate the negative effects of personal encounters with the police. Yet, the extent to which these effects are detrimental also depends on the contextual setting. In countries where social trust is high and the rule of law abounds, personal contacts hardly leaves a negative trace. As a consequence, policies that aim to enhance police legitimacy may be less fruitful if its interplay with the larger political and societal context is overlooked.