Most police departments do not currently measure their subjective legitimacy via surveys of the public. This article argues that such information is valuable, since public cooperation with the police is linked to the legitimacy of the police in the eyes of the public. Approaches to measuring subjective legitimacy are reviewed, and examples of items used in prior studies to tap different, potentially important aspects of legitimacy are presented and discussed. These can serve as the starting point for future efforts to design and validate measures of legitimacy that can be the basis for police efforts to better understand how they are viewed by the members of the public in their communities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
EwickP., & SilbeyS. (1988). The common place of law. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2.
MillerA. H. (1974). Political issues and trust in government: 1964–1970. American Political Science Review, 68, 951–972.
3.
RobinsonJ. P.ShaverP. R., & WrightsmanL. S. (1999). Measures of political attitudes. NewYork: Academic.
4.
SunshineJ., & TylerT.R. (2002). Process-based policing: The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in policing. Unpublished manuscript, New York University.
5.
TylerT. R. (1990). Why people obey the law. New Haven: Yale.
6.
TylerT. R. (2000). Social justice: Outcome and procedure. International Journal of Psychology, 35, 117–125.
7.
TylerT. R. (2001). Public trust and confidence in legal authorities: What do majority and minority group members want from the law and legal authorities?Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 19, 215–235.
8.
TylerT. R. (2001, September). Legitimacy and policing. Paper prepared for the National Research Council Panel to Review Research on Police Policy and Practice, Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Academy of Science.
9.
TylerT. R., & HuoY. J. (2002). Building trust in the law. New York: Russell-Sage Foundation.
