 How Repression Affects Public Perceptions of Police: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in UgandaTravis Curtice Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2021, vol. 65, issue 10, 1680-1708 Abstract: What are the effects of state repression on public perceptions of police? And to what extent are these effects uniform or conditional on individuals’ loyalty to political authorities? I argue that repression by the police negatively affects how people evaluate the police, especially among those who do not support the ruling party. People who oppose the regime are more likely to fear the police following a repressive event relative to regime supporters. To test this argument, I leverage a unique research design opportunity that emerges from the social media tax protest led by Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (also known as Bobi Wine) and subsequent selective repression by the Uganda Police Force while a nationally representative survey on police and security was being administered in Uganda. I demonstrate selective repression of protesters decreased support for the police. These effects are largely driven by political loyalty; repression has a stronger effect on how members of the opposition evaluate the police relative to incumbent supporters. Keywords: Law and order; police; protests; collective action; repression; Uganda (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jocore:v:65:y:2021:i:10:p:1680-1708 DOI: 10.1177/00220027211013097 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Journal of Conflict Resolution from Peace Science Society (International) |
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