In Times of Political Crisis, Why People Support the Police: Police Legitimacy in Taiwan

Abstract

The current research examines the support for the police during a political crisis. Relying on a random sample collected from the Taipei metropolitan area a month after the Sunflower Movement in 2014, we have found that perceived police legitimacy functioned well, whereas the political party preference, a proxy measure of powerholder legitimacy, exerts the strongest positive impact on the support for the police during the crisis. We conclude that political orientation structures perceived legitimacy and sustains the support for the police during the social movement. In addition, policing by virtue, an alternative model of democratic policing is discussed within the context of Taiwan. The study leads us to believe that the Confucian culture is not destined to be authoritarian and violent, but is capable of regenerating itself as an alternative form of democratic policing, and possibly more broadly, governance.