Russian police and transition to democracy: lessons from one empirical study

Zernova, Margarita

Abstract

The paper discusses public experiences of policing in today’s Russia, public attitudes towards police resulting from such experiences and wider social implications of those attitudes. At the basis of the discussion is an empirical study which has been carried out by the author. The study has found abundant evidence of distrust towards – and fear of – police by contemporary Russians. It is argued that the corrupt, brutal and unaccountable police who lack legitimacy in the eyes of citizens trigger public responses that may help to deepen social inequalities, subvert the process of establishing the rule of law and impede the Russian transition to democracy. Moreover, if citizens view the police as illegitimate – indeed, believe that the very state agency designed to protect them actually presents threats to their security – the legitimacy of the entire state structure is at risk.

Citation

Zernova, M. (2013). Russian police and transition to democracy: lessons from one empirical study. Internet journal of criminology, 2013(May), 1-39

• Publication Date: 2013
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Journal: Internet journal of criminology
• Print ISSN: 2045-6743
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2013
• Issue: May
• Pages: 1-39
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/470770
• Publisher URL: http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Zernova_Russian_Police_and_Transition_to_Democracy_IJC_May_2013.pdf
• Additional Information: Author's accepted manuscript of article published in: Internet journal of criminology, 2013, May issue