Democracy and police violence

Abstract

Are police agencies less likely to use torture in democracies than in non-democracies? Much empirical research has shown that democracies are less likely to engage in torture in general, but most of this research does not distinguish among victim types or state agencies. Using the Ill-Treatment and Torture (ITT) Data, we focus on police agencies and evaluate whether they are less likely to use torture against (separately) political dissidents, criminals, and marginalized communities. Using logistic regressions with random effects, we find that the well-established and relatively high level of democracies’ respect for the rights of dissidents extends to police agencies as well. However, we find weaker statistical evidence that police agencies in democracies are less likely to use torture against criminals, and no evidence that they are less likely to torture marginalized communities. Our results suggest that one of the most robust empirical facts in the literature must be qualified. The protection from violence offered by democratic institutions does not seem to generalize beyond violence directly related to political competition and dissent.