Leiden University Student Repository

Ede, Govert van (2023)

Police violence: public attitudes

Bachelor thesis | Security Studies (BSc)

Police violence has gotten more and more attention in the last decade. The public seems to differentiate on their opinions. Whereas some condemn any form of police violence, others tolerate more from police officers. In the United States, this distinction can be explained from a political point of view, as Democrats seem to be more tolerant than Republicans. However, in the Netherlands, such a political distinction has not yet been made. Do left people tolerate police violence different from right people? Or does a conservative person accept more violence than a progressive person? These questions led this thesis, together with a self- established survey, which measured the differentiating public opinion on police violence. It can be concluded that a progressive person tolerates less violence than a conservative person. Moreover, whether someone is left or right has no impact on someone’s opinion on police violence.

Police violence, Left, Right, Progressive, Conservative, Political party

Author

Ede, Govert van

Faculty

Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

Supervisors

Breen, J.A. van

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en