Police legitimacy and support for vigilante violence in Pakistan

Bottoms and Tankebe recently analysed the multidimensional nature ofpolice legitimacy and made an argument for its relevance to social order.Using survey data from three communities of varying socioeconomicconditions in Pakistan, this paper examines the links between the multi-ple dimensions of the Bottoms-Tankebe model of police legitimacy andsupport for vigilante violence. The findings show overall high levels ofsupport for vigilantism. Regression analysis shows that experiences ofpolice illegality consistently predict support for vigilantism across thethree communities. Perceived quality of police decision-making predictssupport for vigilantism in some conditions but not others. Contrary toexpectations, quality of interpersonal treatment by police and policeeffectiveness do not explain support for vigilantism. We also found noevidence to show that feelings of obligation to obey the police mediatethe influence of police legitimacy on vigilante support. The implicationsof these findings are discussed in this paper