Police Abuse in Contemporary Democracies

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introduction

   • Michelle D. Bonner, Michael Kempa, Mary Rose Kubal, Guillermina Seri

   Pages 1-27

3. Citizenship

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 29-29

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   2. Police Abuse and the Racialized Boundaries of Citizenship in France

      • Cathy Lisa Schneider

      Pages 31-53

   3. Police as State: Governing Citizenship Through Violence

      • Guillermina Seri, Jinee Lokaneeta

      Pages 55-80

   4. Development of the Concept of “Political Profiling”: Citizenship and Police Repression of Protest in Quebec

      • Francis Dupuis-Déri

      Pages 81-110

4. Accountability

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111

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   2. Holding Police Abuse to Account: The Challenge of Institutional Legitimacy, a Chilean Case Study

      • Michelle D. Bonner

      Pages 113-134

   3. Police Abuse and Democratic Accountability: Agonistic Surveillance of the Administrative State

      • Rosa Squillacote, Leonard Feldman

      Pages 135-164

   4. Protest and Police Abuse: Racial Limits on Perceived Accountability

      • Christian Davenport, Rose McDermott, David Armstrong

      Pages 165-192

5. Socioeconomic (In)Equality

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 193-193

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   2. Supporting the “Elite” Transition in South Africa: Policing in a Violent, Neoliberal Democracy

      • Marlea Clarke

      Pages 195-220

   3. Policing as Pacification: Postcolonial Legacies, Transnational Connections, and the Militarization of Urban Security in Democratic Brazil

      • Markus-Michael Müller

      Pages 221-247

6. Conclusion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 249-249

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   2. Conclusion: Rethinking Police Abuse in Contemporary Democracies

      • Michelle D. Bonner

      Pages 251-256

7. Back Matter

   Pages 257-274

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This volume offers a much-needed analysis of police abuse and its implications for our understanding of democracy. Sometimes referred to as police violence or police repression, police abuse occurs in all democracies. It is not an exception or a stage of democratization. It is, this volume argues, a structural and conceptual dimension of extant democracies. The book draws our attention to how including the study of policing into our analyses strengthens our understanding of democracy, including the persistence of hybrid democracy and the decline of democracy. To this end, the book examines three key dimensions of democracy: citizenship, accountability, and socioeconomic (in)equality. Drawing from political theory, comparative politics, and political economy, the book explores cases from France, the US, India, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Brazil, and Canada, and reveals how integrating police abuse can contribute to a more robust study of democracy and government in general.

• Police
• Police abuse
• Democracy
• Citizenship
• Accountability
• Inequality
• United States
• France
• South Africa
• Chile
• Quebec
• Argentina
• India
• Brazil
• policing

• University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

  Michelle D. Bonner

• Union College, Schenectady, USA

  Guillermina Seri

• St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, USA

  Mary Rose Kubal

• University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

  Michael Kempa

Michelle D. Bonner is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Victoria, Canada. 



Guillermina Seri is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Union College, USA.


Mary Rose Kubal is Associate Professor of Political Science at St. Bonaventure University, USA. 


Michael Kempa is Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa, Canada. 

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