Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-03T11:18:04.673Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relational State Building in Areas of Limited Statehood: Experimental Evidence on the Attitudes of the Police

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2020

SABRINA KARIM Open the ORCID record for SABRINA KARIM [Opens in a new window]
SABRINA KARIM*
Affiliation:
Cornell University
*
*Sabrina Karim, Assistant Professor, Cornell University, smk349@cornell.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Under what conditions does state expansion into limited statehood areas improve perceptions of state authority? Although previous work emphasizes identity or institutional sources of state legitimacy, I argue that relationships between state agents and citizens drive positive attitude formation, because these relationships provide information and facilitate social bonds. Moreover, when state agents and citizens share demographic characteristics, perceptional effects may improve. Finally, citizens finding procedural interactions between state agents and citizens unfair may adopt negative views about the state. I test these three propositions by randomizing household visits by male or female police officers in rural Liberia. These visits facilitated relationship building, leading to improved perceptions of police; shared demographic characteristics between police and citizens did not strengthen this effect. Perceptions of unfairness in the randomization led to negative opinions about police. The results imply that relationship building between state agents and citizens is an important part of state building.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 114 , Issue 2 , May 2020 , pp. 536 - 551
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2020 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This project was generously funded by grants from Emory University, the Folke Bernadotte Academy 1325 Working Group, and a National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant. Various forms of this paper were presented at EGAP 19: Sciences Po, Paris, March 2017; the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics Conference for Young Scholars in Philadelphia, PA, May 19, 2017; the Folke Bernadatte Academy Security Sector Reform Working Groups in 2016 and 2017; the Cornell University Comparative Politics workshop; and workshops at the following departments Texas A&M, Georgetown University, George Washington University, University of Chicago, the University of Virginia, and Emory University. Additionally, the author would like to thank the IR Experiments Conference participants in Princeton (2013), in particular Daniel Nielson and Betsy Paluck. The research would not have been possible without advice from David Lake, Elisabeth King, Bernd Beber, Alex Scacco, Rob Blair, Ben Morse, Yonatan Lupu, Dara Cohen, Louise Olsson, Ismene Gizelis, Ben Oppenheim, Thomas Zeitzoff, Dan Reiter, Tom Pepinsky, and Kyle Beardsley. The author would also like to thank three anonymous reviewers who greatly improved this paper. Finally, the author would like to thank the Center for Action, Research, and Training, particularly Kou M. G. Johnson, Finah Bottomley, George Thomas, Wonyen Beyean, Isaac Wisseh, Dyrexze Juwele, and Catherine Tarplah as well as the Liberian National Police, specifically William Mulbah, Abe Kromah, Emmanuel Doe, Rudolph Sarvice, Josephine Sackor, and Delphine Nimely. Replication files are available at the American Political Science Review Dataverse: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/OARGFC.

References

REFERENCES

Allport, Gordon W. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice . Oxford, England: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Arjona, Ana, Kasfir, Nelson, and Mampilly, Zachariah. 2015. Rebel Governance in Civil War. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bacon, Laura. 2017. “Liberia’s Gender-Sensitive Police Reform: Improving Representation and Responsiveness in a Post-Conflict Setting.” International Peacekeeping 22 (4): 372–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beath, Andrew, Christia, Fotini, and Enikolopov, Ruben. 2013. “Empowering Women through Development Aid: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan.” American Political Science Review 107 (3): 540–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blair, Robert A., Karim, Sabrina M., and S. Morse, Benjamin. 2019. “Establishing the rule of law in weak and war-torn states: Evidence from a field experiment with the Liberian National Police.” American Political Science Review 113 (3): 641–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braithwaite, Valerie, and Levi, Margaret. 2003. Trust and Governance. New York City: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Brass, Jennifer N. 2016. Allies or Adversaries: NGOs and the State in Africa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broockman, David, and Kalla, Joshua. 2016. “Durably Reducing Transphobia: A Field Experiment on Door-to-Door Canvassing.” Science 352 (6282): 220–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chong, Dennis, and Druckman, James N.. 2010. “Dynamic Public Opinion: Communication Effects over Time.” American Political Science Review 104 (4): 663–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chong, Dennis, and Druckman, James N.. 2012. “Counterframing Effects.” The Journal of Politics 75 (1): 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clingingsmith, David, Khwaja, Asim Ijaz, and Kremer, Michael. 2009. “Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam’s Global Gathering.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 124 (3): 1133–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberle. 1990. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43: 1241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, Stephen. 2007. The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War. New York City: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Fisk, Kylie, and Cherney, Adrian. 2017. “Pathways to Institutional Legitimacy in Post-Conflict Societies: Perceptions of Process and Performance in Nepal.” Governance 30 (2): 263–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, Jonathan, and MacAulay, Christine. 2011. “Building Civilian Police Capacity: Post-Conflict Liberia 2003–2011.” In Innovations for Successful Societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.Google Scholar
Gershman, Boris, and Rivera, Diego. 2018. “Subnational Diversity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from a New Dataset.” Journal of Development Economics 133: 231–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenhill, Kelly M., and Oppenheim, Ben. 2017. “Rumor Has It: The Adoption of Unverified Information in Conflict Zones.” International Studies Quarterly 61 (3): 660–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haas, Adelaide. 1979. “Male and Female Spoken Language Differences: Stereotypes and Evidence.” Psychological Bulletin 86 (3): 616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Judith A., and Braunwald, Karen G.. 1981. “Gender Cues in Conversations.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 40 (1): 99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschman, Lynette. 1994. “Female–Male Differences in Conversational Interaction.” Language in Society 23 (3): 427–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooks, Bell. 1981. “Ain’t I a Woman Black Women and Feminism.” Boston: South End Press.Google Scholar
Huo, Yuen J., and Tyler, Tom R.. 2002. Trust in the Law: Encouraging Public Cooperation with the Police and Courts. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Joseph, Nathan, and Alex, Nicholas. 1972. “The Uniform: A Sociological Perspective.” American Journal of Sociology 77 (4): 719–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karim, Sabrina. 2017. “Restoring Confidence in Post-Conflict Security Sectors: Survey Evidence from Liberia on Female Ratio Balancing Reforms.” British Journal of Political Science 49 (3): 799–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keiser, Lael R., Wilkins, Vicky M., Meier, Kenneth J., and Holland, Catherine A.. 2002. “Lipstick and Logarithms: Gender, Institutional Context, and Representative Bureaucracy.” American Political Science Review 96 (3): 553–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kling, Jeffrey R., Liebman, Jeffrey B., and Katz, Lawrence F.. 2007. “Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects.” Econometrica 75 (1): 83–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1999. Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D., and Risse, Thomas. 2014. “External Actors, State-Building, and Service Provision in Areas of Limited Statehood: Introduction.” Governance 27 (4): 545–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lake, David A. 2016. The Statebuilder’s Dilemma: On the Limits of Foreign Intervention. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lake, Milli, and Cronin-Furman, Kate. 2018. “Ethics Abroad: Research and Field Methods in Areas of Limited Statehood.” Political Science and Politics. 51 (3): 607–14.Google Scholar
Leger, Kristen. 1997. “Public Perceptions of Female Police Officers on Patrol.” American Journal of Criminal Justice 21 (2): 231–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levi, Margaret, and Sacks, Audrey. 2009. “Legitimating Beliefs: Sources and Indicators.” Regulation & Governance 3 (4): 311–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levi, Margaret, Sacks, Audrey, and Tyler, Tom. 2009. “Conceptualizing Legitimacy, Measuring Legitimating Beliefs.” American Behavioral Scientist 53 (3): 354–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, Michael. 1984. “The Autonomous Power of the State: Its Origins, Mechanisms and Results.” European Journal of Sociology/Archives européennes de sociologie 25 (2): 185–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLoughlin, Claire. 2015. “When Does Service Delivery Improve the Legitimacy of a Fragile or Conflict-Affected State?” Governance 28 (3): 341–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mcloughlin, Claire. 2018. “When the Virtuous Circle Unravels: Unfair Service Provision and State De-Legitimation in Divided Societies.” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 12 (4): 527–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meier, Kenneth John. 1975. “Representative Bureaucracy: An Empirical Analysis.” American Political Science Review 69 (2): 526–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meier, Kenneth J., and Nicholson-Crotty, Jill. 2006. “Gender, Representative Bureaucracy, and Law Enforcement: The Case of Sexual Assault.” Public Administration Review 66 (6): 850–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mosher, Frederick C. 1982. Democracy and the Public Service. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press on Demand.Google Scholar
Natarajan, Mangai. 2016. Women Police in a Changing Society: Back Door to Equality. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nussio, Enzo, Garcia-Sanchez, Miguel, Oppenheim, Ben, and Pantoja-Barrios, Sebastian. 2019. “Testing Statebuilding’s ‘Missing Link’: Effects of Government Communication in Colombia.” Journal of Development Studies, 1–18. Published online 18 March 2019.Google Scholar
Paluck, Elizabeth Levy. 2009. “Reducing Intergroup Prejudice and Conflict Using the Media: A Field Experiment in Rwanda.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 96 (3): 574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paris, Roland. 2004. At War’s End: Building Peace after Civil Conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettigrew, Thomas F. 1998. “Intergroup Contact Theory.” Annual Review of Psychology 49 (1): 65–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettigrew, Thomas F., and Tropp, Linda R.. 2006. “A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90 (5): 751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettigrew, Thomas F., Tropp, Linda R., Wagner, Ulrich, and Christ, Oliver. 2011. “Recent Advances in Intergroup Contact Theory.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (3): 271–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitkin, Hanna F. 1967. The Concept of Representation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabe-Hemp, Cara E. 2009. “POLICEwomen or policeWOMEN? Doing Gender and Police Work.” Feminist Criminology 4 (2): 114–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Risse, Thomas. 2011. Governance without a State? Policies and Politics in Areas of Limited Statehood. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Risse, Thomas, and Stollenwerk, Eric. 2018. “Legitimacy in Areas of Limited Statehood.” Annual Review of Political Science 21: 403–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenbaum, Dennis P., Schuck, Amie M., Costello, Sandra K., Hawkins, Darnell F., and Ring, Marianne K.. 2005. “Attitudes toward the Police: The Effects of Direct and Vicarious Experience.” Police Quarterly 8 (3): 343–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rotberg, Robert I. 2010. When States Fail: Causes and Consequences. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothstein, Bo. 2009. “Creating Political Legitimacy: Electoral Democracy versus Quality of Government.” American Behavioral Scientist 53 (3): 311–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruggeri, Andrea, Dorussen, Han, and Gizelis, Theodora-Ismene. 2018. “On the Frontline Every Day? Subnational Deployment of United Nations Peacekeepers.” British Journal of Political Science 48 (4): 1005–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schatzberg, Michael G. 2001. Political Legitimacy in Middle Africa: Father, Family, Food. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Schmelzle, Cord, and Stollenwerk, Eric. 2018. “Virtuous or Vicious Circle? Governance Effectiveness and Legitimacy in Areas of Limited Statehood.” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 12 (4): 1750–2985.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, Jack L. 2000. From Voting to Violence: Democratization and Nationalist Conflict. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Soifer, Hillel. 2008. “State Infrastructural Power: Approaches to Conceptualization and Measurement.” Studies in Comparative International Development 43 (3–4): 231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stollenwerk, Eric. 2018. “Securing Legitimacy? Perceptions of Security and ISAF’s Legitimacy in Northeast Afghanistan.” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 12 (4): 506–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunshine, Jason, and Tyler, Tom R.. 2003. “The Role of Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Shaping Public Support for Policing.” Law & Society Review 37 (3): 513–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. 2005. “Policing in Black and White: Ethnic Group Differences in Trust and Confidence in the Police.” Police Quarterly 8 (3): 322–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. 2006. Why People Obey the Law. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viki, G. Tendayi, Culmer, Michelle J., Eller, Anja, and Abrams, Dominic. 2006. “Race and Willingness to Cooperate with the Police: The Roles of Quality of Contact, Attitudes towards the Behaviour and Subjective Norms.” British Journal of Social Psychology 45 (2): 285–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vinck, Patrick, Pham, Phuong, and Kreutzer, Tino. 2011. Talking Peace: A Population-Based Survey on Attitudes about Security, Dispute Resolution, and Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Liberia. Berkeley: Human Rights Center, University of California.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1962. Basic Concepts in Sociology. New York: Citadel Press.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1980. Economy and Society: Ground Plan of Understanding Sociology. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.Google Scholar
Zartman, I. William. 1995. Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziblatt, Daniel. 2008. “Why Some Cities Provide More Public Goods than Others: A Subnational Comparison of the Provision of Public Goods in German Cities in 1912.” Studies in Comparative International Development 43 (3–4): 273–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Karim Dataset

Dataset https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/OARGFC
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Karim supplementary material

Appendix

Download Karim supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 353.3 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.