pp. 783-785
Authoritarian Police in Democracy: Contested Security in Latin America, Yanilda María González
Despite the third wave of democracy sweeping aside formal authoritarian institutions in much of Latin America, violent, predatory, corrupt, and discriminatory police forces continue to exist side by side with democratic institutions. Yanilda María González's new book Authoritarian Police in Democracy adds to a growing literature tackling the tension between democracy and policing. In it, she argues that the persistence of authoritarian coercion within police institutions is not just a holdover from an authoritarian past but also a result of normal democratic politics. Authoritarian policing practices persist despite transitions to democracy as a result of the interactions between citizens who demand protection, politicians who want to win elections, and police institutions that resist reform. The authoritarian nature of coercive force used by police in democracies is a timely question that will resonate not only with readers who are familiar with the literature on crime and policing in Latin America, but also with anyone concerned with corruption, discrimination, and the use of lethal force by police across the globe.
González rightly points out that democratization does not inevitably lead to what she calls “democratic coercion”—that is, coercion that protects citizens from crime, treats citizens eq
To continue reading, see options above.
Join the Academy of Political Science and automatically receive Political Science Quarterly.
Academy Forum | Latino Voters, Demographic Determinism, and the Myth of an Inevitable Democratic Party Majority
October 9, 2024
4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. ET
WEBINAR
Virtual Issue
Introduction: Black Power and the Civil Rights Agendas of Charles V. Hamilton
Marylena Mantas and Robert Y. Shapiro
Publishing since 1886, PSQ is the most widely read and accessible scholarly journal with distinguished contributors such as: Lisa Anderson, Robert A. Dahl, Samuel P. Huntington, Robert Jervis, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Theda Skocpol, Woodrow Wilson
view additional issuesArticles | Book reviews
The Academy of Political Science, promotes objective, scholarly analyses of political, social, and economic issues. Through its conferences and publications APS provides analysis and insight into both domestic and foreign policy issues.
With neither an ideological nor a partisan bias, PSQ looks at facts and analyzes data objectively to help readers understand what is really going on in national and world affairs.