Liqun Cao

Do in-group and out-group forms of trust matter in predicting confidence in the order institutions? A study of three culturally distinct countries

This study brings trust into the study of confidence in the police and in the courts – two order institutions – and tests the utility of a statistical model developed in the West in two other culturally distinct countries (Taiwan and Turkey). The conceptual model is tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Results show that the data fit well with theory-based predictions for the US and Turkey. In-group trust is found to be associated with confidence in all three societies. Those who score high in in-group trust and those who believe in democracy have higher confidence in the order institutions. The findings cast doubt on the tendency to laud the positive effects of out-group trust while neglecting the study of in-group trust. The same model, however, does not fit well with data from Taiwan – a Confucian society. The implication of these results is discussed within the limitations of the study.

Governance and Regional Variation of Homicide Rates Evidence From Cross-National Data

Criminological theories of cross-national studies of homicide have underestimated the effects of quality governance of liberal democracy and region. Data sets from several sources are combined and a comprehensive model of homicide is proposed. Results of the spatial regression model, which controls for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, show that quality governance, human development, economic inequality, and ethnic heterogeneity are statistically significant in predicting homicide. In addition, regions of Latin America and non-Muslim Sub-Saharan Africa have significantly higher rates of homicides ceteris paribus while the effects of East Asian countries and Islamic societies are not statistically significant. These findings are consistent with the expectation of the new modernization and regional theories.

From authoritarian policing to democratic policing: a case study of Taiwan

The literature of democratic policing has neglected the case study of unique geopolitical situation. This study examines Taiwan, one of the few countries that has experienced a relatively peaceful transition from authoritarian policing to democratic policing. While the push from the dangwai movement was necessary, democratisation could not be so peaceful without benign concession from ex-president Chiang Ching-Kuo and his hand-picked successor Li Denghui. The article then contrasts the essential characteristics of democratic policing with these of authoritarian policing before the lifting of martial law in 1987. We contend that to endure democracy, the police must accept and embody democratic values in their practices. The difficulties to democratic reforms come from both despotic past and jaundiced interpretation of Confucianism. The essay represents a systematic attempt to explore the spread of democratic policing to a post-Confucian society.

Acceptance of Prostitution and Its Social Determinants in Canada

The nature of collective perception of prostitution is understudied in Canada. Except some rudimentary reports on the percentages of the key legal options, multivariate analysis has never been used to analyze the details of public opinion on prostitution. The current study explores the trend of public attitude toward prostitution acceptability in Canada over a 25-year span and examines the social determinants of the acceptability of prostitution, using structural equation modeling (SEM), which allows researchers to elaborate both direct and indirect effects (through mediating variables) on the outcome variable. Results show that the public has become more acceptant of prostitution over time. In addition, the less religious, less authoritarian, and more educated are more acceptant of prostitution than the more religious, more authoritarian, and less well educated. The effects of religiosity and authoritarianism mediate out the direct effects of age, gender, gender equality, marriage, marriage as an outdated institution, Quebec, race, and tolerance. The findings may serve as a reference point for the law reform regarding the regulation of prostitution in Canada.

Demystifying confidence in different levels of the police: evidence from Shanghai, China

ABSTRACT Extending Feis ‘differential mode of association’ (1992) and Cao et al.s argument that Chinese trust is layered and hierarchical (2015), this study explores the differential confidence in the different levels of police agencies and brings various forms of trust into the study of confidence in the police. Results from a household random sample reveal that Shanghainese make a distinction between hierarchical levels of the police. Their confidence level toward their municipality police department is similar to that toward the Ministry of Public Security while their confidence levels toward the police at stations and Paichusuo are more alike. In addition, the multi-variate regression analyses indicate that institutional trust is the dominant factor for explaining confidence in both local and upper-level police. Media trust, sense of safety, financial satisfaction and collectivism are significant predictors in both models. Obeying the law, gender and class influence confidence in the local police but not the upper-level police while intermediate trust and education have a significant effect only on confidence in the upper-level police. It is concluded that assessment of local police is central to the understanding of public confidence in China.

Confidence in the police by race: taking stock and charting new directions

Abstract The current study reflects a narrative mega-review of confidence in the police by race. This review has led to two conclusions. First, blacks and whites have different levels of confidence in the police, but the difference between races is a matter of degrees. Second, race is not the strongest predictor of confidence in the police in most multivariate analyses. When variables, such as police contacts and concentrated disadvantage, are controlled for, the effect of race tends to be attenuated and/or sometimes disappear. These results prompt us to urge scholars to chart new directions for future research: fairness and its flip side – injustice – rather than race should be the focus of empirical and analytical gaze. The practical implications derived from this review are twofold. First, central to improving minority confidence in the police is to treat people of all racial groups fairly and equitably. Second, the police and the policed must come to terms and have faith in our democratic system and reform. This review is the first of its kind. We conclude by proposing a template of explaining confidence in the police by race with fairness as the tying knot.

Development and reform of police training and education in Taiwan

Abstract This article describes the development of training and educating police officers in Taiwan. The current system, which has largely survived the democratic transition between 1986 and 2000, is unique. It is a two-track system in which Taiwan Police College (TPC) is responsible for training low ranking police personnel, whereas Central Police University (CPU) is responsible for educating police management personnel. Currently, the presidents of CPU are no longer chosen from the military, but their backgrounds require experiences as police officers. The Examination Yuan opens up the new route into TPC and CPU through competitive national civil examinations. Echoing the outcry for reform within Taiwan and abroad, we advocate to liberate new cadets from the closed system so that they can learn together with other non-police students and to add more social science materials into the police education curriculum.