Possible Legitimacy

Martin Jeffrey's article, titled "A Reasonable Balance of Law and Sentiment: Social Order in Democratic Taiwan from the Policeman's Point of View," talks about a "contradiction" that occurred in Taiwan, when the nation made its "transition" to democracy. It seams as if the country was/is maintaining a system of functioning, which involved a strict/ realist, and democratic "version of the rule of law," while also allowing a "social order organized around an alternative set of cultural values," (p 665, Jeffrey) to exist. Jeffrey explores how the police operate within this "contradiction." He specifically uses information that was accumulated during fieldwork that was conducted in Taipei County. Jeffrey talks a bit about the history of the police state in Taiwan. He mentions that Taiwan's "modern police institutions," were first set in place by the Japanese in 1895. Since that time, the way the police have been organized in Taiwan has experienced some notable changes. These changes occurred when the Chinese gained control over Taiwan (after Japan) and during a time of "anti - communist social mobilization" (Jeffrey). It is obvious that historically, the Taiwanese police system has had to deal with many complexities. To better explain the delicate situation, involving the police in Taiwan, Jeffrey quotes a "neighbourhood patrolman," who said, "the law is a knife and a policeman must be a skill full surgeon if he himself is not to lose control of the blade" (Jeffrey). This patrolman however, may have been overestimating the power of the official police state of Taiwan because since the country became introduced to democracy, an "erosion of the idea of police" (Jeffrey) had begun to take place. This lack of faith in the official police system caused "informal order- keeping institutions" (Jeffrey) to arise. These were/ are often dubbed with the word "black," to show their illegitimacy. Needless to say, the coexistence of the police system and unofficial organizations, is a complication within the country of Taiwan. 

To understand the complex nature of this  "contradiction," Jeffrey examines the idea of legitimacy in the conclusion of his article. He asserts that to define something as being legitimate, is never simple. This is perhaps why the contraction within Taiwan exists. When faith is lost in the official police state, does that not somehow legitimize the unofficial organizations, which attempt to maintain social order? This is not a question that can be easily answered and Taiwanese patrolmen are certainly aware of how difficult the situation is. As Jeffrey puts it, they are "self - consciously… (the) caretakers of an obviously conflicted intersection between ideal of order embodied law… and… a local society organized through particularistic connections rationalized in terms of sentiment" (Jeffrey). If the official patrolmen find it difficult to get rid of the "informal order - keeping institutions" by claiming illegitimacy, it is obvious that Taiwan's contradiction will not be an easy one to overcome. It will be interesting to see if the order - keeping ways of the people, can become the normative mode of functioning, replacing the official police state. The protests occurring in Taiwan today, may be an indication that anything is possible. 

Work Cited

Martin, Jeffrey. 2007. "A Reasonable Balance of Law and Sentiment: Social Order in Democratic Taiwan from the Policeman's Point of View." Law & SOciety Review 41 (3): 665-697.