Abstract

Chapter 1 begins with a broad introduction to the police by pursuing the seemingly simple question: What do the police do, and why do they have authority to do it? After sketching several aspects of the police’s law enforcement role—such as the use of deadly force, deception, surveillance, and discretion—the chapter considers the basis of the police’s authority to engage in such acts. Even if everyone agrees that such actions are justified, that does not necessarily answer the question about authority. One way to answer the question is to say that police have authority in virtue of the state’s legitimacy—the moral right to command and be obeyed. After a discussion of reciprocation theories of legitimacy and their relation to the liberal tradition, the chapter closes with a brief examination of alternative approaches that one might take in identifying the limits of the police’s power.