The Belief in State Legitimacy and Homicide: A Cross-National Analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study examines whether perceived state legitimacy contributes to the variation in the level of homicide across countries. I perform a statistical test of this relationship by creating a new cross-national time series data set of 86 countries. The analysis suggests a strong, negative, and robust relationship between widespread belief in state legitimacy and the homicide rate, controlling for the level of democracy and other relevant variables. The results provide evidence that subjective measures of state legitimacy are an important determinant of cross-national homicide rates, independent of the characteristics of the state.