Two theories on the police – The relevance of Max Weber and Emile Durkheim to the study of the police

Abstract

The work of Weber and Durkheim is regularly mentioned in police science, but the relevance of these two scholars to the field of study often remains implicit. Weber’s perspective concentrates on the police’s power to use force, highlighting the moral dilemmas involved with this power. The differences between a definition of the police in terms of force and the notion of ‘good policing’ as the limitation of violence suggest that this view neglects important elements. This becomes clear when one considers Durkheim’s approach, which views the police as a moral agency. The differences between these two perspectives are illustrated with an appeal to the concept of police legitimacy, which shows that they refer to different interpretations of the relation between the police and the public. Each perspective concentrates on one of the two core elements that characterise the police: the power to use force and the moral-symbolic meaning. The relations between these two elements illuminate a fundamental aspect of modern policing.