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Investigations on the Legitimacy of the Swiss Police: Actual Debates and Empirical Evidence

The Politics of Policing: Between Force and Legitimacy

ISBN: 978-1-78635-030-5, eISBN: 978-1-78635-029-9

Publication date: 10 June 2016

Abstract

Purpose

Actual debates around the Swiss police see a decrease in respect and an increase in attacks toward police officers. Such non-respect can be seen as a lack of feelings of obligation to obey the police. Instead of asking whether such a proclaimed increase in disrespect is indeed happening in Switzerland, this chapter analyzes aspects of legitimacy. It builds on the question whether the population sees the Swiss police as a legitimate force.

Methodology/approach

Swiss police’s legitimacy will be elaborated in two parts. After giving an overview about current debates, known theoretical aspects of legitimacy will be outlined. These aspects build the ground for empirical analyses that follow. Results are based on data of the European Social Survey ESS5.

Findings

The Swiss population sees the police as a legitimate force. The majority morally align with the police, they feel an obligation to obey their directives, and they ascribe legality to their actions. Furthermore, also procedural fairness is highly ascribed to the Swiss police. Finally, age correlates only with certain aspects of legitimacy. While moral alignment increases with age, as well as positive views about police’s procedural fairness, no effects were found for feelings of obligation to obey. However, elderly people more often see a political influence on police’s decisions and actions.

Originality/value

While in Anglo-Saxon countries research on legitimacy of the police is broad, no analyses are known for Switzerland so far. Moreover, topics around the Swiss police are often emotionally debated in media, with a lack of empirical evidence. This chapter contributes to close this gap. It gives an insight on the population’s perception of the Swiss police and offers an important scientific foundation for actual debates.

Keywords

Citation

Staubli, S. (2016), "Investigations on the Legitimacy of the Swiss Police: Actual Debates and Empirical Evidence", The Politics of Policing: Between Force and Legitimacy (Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 97-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1521-613620160000021006

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016 Emerald Group Publishing Limited