Title: 
Headings: 

Content: Police & Democracy
Police
and Democracy
Slightly longer version
of an article in The Encyclopedia of Democracy, 1995. Back
to Main Page  |  Bibliography
By Gary T. Marx
Democracy is defined by broad
values involving participation and formal rules about procedures such as
elections. But for most persons most of the time these are removed from
daily life. That is not true for the police, the agency of government that
citizens are most likely to see and have contact with. All industrial societies
use police to control crime and to contribute to public order (e.g., mediating
and arbitrating disputes, regulating traffic and helping in emergencies). But the conditions under which police operate, the means they use and the
ends they seek vary greatly between democratic and non-democratic societies. Police are a central element
of a democratic society. Indeed one element in defining such a society
is a police force that 1) is subject to the rule of law, rather than the
wishes of a powerful leader or party 2) can intervene n the life of citizens
only under limited and carefully controlled circumstances and 3) is publicly
accountable. It is a myth that all that
stands between total chaos and social order is the police. Social order
has multiple sources.