Advancing Representation Theory to Reflect the Police Reform Process in Post-Troubles West Belfast

• Published date: 01 December 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10575677221104993
• Author: Ella Klahr Bunnell
• Date: 01 December 2023
• Subject Matter: Original Articles

Advancing Representation

Theory to Ref‌lect the Police

Reform Process in Post-

Troubles West Belfast

Ella Klahr Bunnell

1

Abstract

Policing institutions throughout the world face a legitimacy crisis. This crisis’immediacy necessitates

the exploration of theories that provide answers regarding effective reforms. The representation

theory of policing offers one such answer ; it holds that accountability mechanisms are an avenue

for public input that increases conf‌idence in police and affords them democratic legitimacy. This

article applies and evaluates representation theory by examinin g one such reform attempt: post-

Troubles policing restructuring and its impact on relations between police and the militant nation-

alist community within West Belfast. It assesses print media coverage of accountability reforms

throughout the peace negotiation period and the early years of reform implementation and ulti-

mately aff‌irms the association between police legitimacy and accountability; however, it also suggests

that this association is more complex than a simple positive correlation. Rather, legitimacy is cor-

related with public debate regarding accountability that encompasses both positive and negative

evaluations of policing. This indicates that the predominance of police accountability as a subject

of public discourse may serve as an essential component of efforts to instill policing with democratic

legitimacy. The article presents an original model of representation theory that more accurately

ref‌lects the dynamics of legitimacy-building efforts in West Belfast and proposes applications of

this advancement to the contemporary, global movement advocating for police reform.

Keywords

police accountability, police legitimacy, police reform, transitional policing, post-conf‌lict policing

Introduction

Central to the legitimacy of democratic regimes is the consent of the governed, the idea that insti-

tutional structures ref‌lect the collective will of the people. Absent that consent, governments cannot

expect compliance with law or any other forms of recognition of legitimate authority. Policing, as a

1

Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK

Corresponding Author:

Ella Klahr Bunnell, Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen’s University Belfast,

University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.

Email: ella.bunnell@yale.edu

Original Article

International Criminal Justice Review

2023, Vol. 33(4) 406-432

© 2022 Georgia State University

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/10575677221104993

journals.sagepub.com/home/icj

way in which citizens experience governmental authority tangibly and forcefully, is, therefore, inex-

tricably intertwined with citizens’perception of the state’s legitimacy, or lack thereof. However,

policing institutions currently face a global legitimacy crisis. Activists and grassroots organizations,

including, notably, the Black Lives Matter movement, have organized for generations against perva-

sive policing practices steeped in traditions of institutional discrimination and militarized violence.

The May 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota prompted a global outcry that

amplif‌ied these pre-existing efforts to resist discriminatory and abusive policing practices. The

ensuing deterioration of popular consent afforded to policing institutions exacerbated this crisis of

legitimacy that had been escalating for generations. The urgency of this crisis necessitates a recon-

sideration of how governments can restore legitimacy to institutions historically considered partisan,

unaccountable, or antithetical to individual liberty and safety. The representation theory of policing

offers one response, highlighting the mechanism by which accountability measures provide a form of

public input regarding policing practices, thereby bolstering popular consent and the degree of legit-

imacy afforded to policing institutions (McNulty, 2001).

This article evaluates representation theory by examining one such legitimacy-building effort:

post-Troubles police reform and the reconstitution of police-community relations in the predominantly

nationalist area of West Belfast. The research focuses on the question of how the concepts of police

accountability, popular consent, and legitimacy were related in the public discourse throughout the

reform implementation process. It also inquires as to whether and how these conceptual links

evolved throughout the time period of interest. Finally, it ref‌lects upon the f‌indings related to the two

previous questions through the framework offered byrepresentation theory; it explores the implications

of the observed conceptual links for the initial model provided by the theory. In order to explore these

questions, I conducted a mixed-methods study with a sequential explanatory design, which blended

quantitative and qualitative techniques. The article’s conclusions integrate the resulting statistical and

narrative f‌indings, presenting a comprehensive understanding of the conceptual lin ks between police

accountability, popular consent, and legitimacy, as well as their negations. It explicates the way in

which this advanced understanding more accurately represents the application of representation

theory to police legitimacy-building efforts in West Belfast. It also discusses the political and practical

applications of the theoretical advancement to the contemporary, global police reform movement.

The article ultimately concludes that the f‌indings support the representation theory in that they

substantiate the correlation between police accountability and legitimacy in the public discourse.

However, the empirical correlational data and qualitative f‌indings also indicate that this association

was more complex than a simple positive correlation. Increases in indicators of legitimacy were cor-

related not only with indicators of accountability, but also with those of non-accountability.

Legitimacy afforded to police was, therefore, not just associated with accountability, but also with

the contested debate regarding police accountability, which included both positive and negative eval-

uations of police. Contextualizing the correlation thus adds complexity to the initial theoretical model

presented by the representation theory. This updated model illustrates the multifaceted public

response to debate regarding police accountability, which encompassed both aff‌irmations of the

police’s legitimacy and a “backlash”response that emphasized the enduring unacceptability of the

police to segments of the community. The model thereby underscores the cruciality of lively, con-

tested debate in nationalist public discourse and suggests that such debate may be an integral part

of police legitimacy-building efforts in other, contemporary contexts.

Literature Review and Theoretical Framework

A Brief Political History of Twentieth Century Policing in Northern Ireland

One must contextualizeany discussion of twentiethcentury policing in Northern Ireland(NI) within

the paramilitary violence and civil unrest that def‌ined the Troubles and the preceding decades.

Bunnell 407