The Relationship between Police Legitimacy and Collective Efficacy in China’s Context

Abstract

Police-public relations has always been a key issue in policing research (Liu et al., 2018). Scholars have addressed the issues of trust in the police, willingness to cooperate with the police, and police legitimacy (Boateng & Buckner, 2019; Bottoms & Tankebe, 2012; Bradford & Jackson, 2011; Hawdon, 2008; Hough et al., 2013; Huq et al., 2017; Jackson et al., 2012; Kochel et al., 2013; LaFree, 1998; Lee & Cho, 2020; Liu, 2019; Liu & Liu, 2018; Liu et al., 2020; Mazerolle et al., 2010, 2013; Sun et al., 2004, 2010, 2017, 2018; Sunshine & Tyler, 2003; Tankebe, 2009, 2013; Tyler, 2004, 2006a, 2006b; Wu et al., 2021). The research on collective efficacy and police legitimacy is particularly striking. Western researchers have attempted to identify the relationship between police legitimacy and collective efficacy, and research has provided theoretical support for the relationship between collective efficacy and police legitimacy (Hawdon, 2008; Kochel, 2012, 2013, 2018a, 2018b; Kwak & McNeeley, 2017; LaFree, 1998; Nix et al., 2015; Sargeant, 2017; Weisburd et al., 2011). However, empirical research has found only a limited correlation between police legitimacy and collective efficacy (Kochel, 2012, 2018a).