An international study on public confidence in police

Levels of public confidence in police vary greatly internationally, yet little is known about the causes of this variation. I investigate public confidence in police and identify country-level factors that contribute to its variation cross-nationally. From Rawls' conception of political legitimacy, I hypothesize that stable and high-level democracy increase confidence in the police, while government corruption lowers this confidence. I further hypothesize that these effects are particularly exaggerated among ethnic minority groups. Collectively, results suggest that reduction of government corruption is the most important thing any nation can do to garner public confidence in police.