Self-Legitimacy and the Military Police in Sao Paulo

• In Event: International Legitimacy Research

Abstract

International researchers show that the debate over the legitimacy of the police has broadened the perspective of citizens and have been focused on the perspectives of ‘self-legitimacy’ or ‘internal legitimacy’, defined as the level of confidence that an officer has about his or her own legitimacy—feeling worthy or not worthy of his or her authority. It is an ongoing process of dialogue between police and the population as well as within the police organization itself. This approach may help to identify the reasons why authorities mobilize their political power, as well as their internal beliefs in their moral right to exercise such authority. This study presents some results of a survey conducted of 298 street level officers from the Military Police in the city of Sao Paulo (Brazil). It discusses the factors that influence the sense of legitimacy of these officers. It also discuss the particularities of self-legitimacy in a militarized structure police force in which unquestioned obedience is a key value.

Author

• Viviane de Oliveira Cubas, University of Sao Paulo