### Bridging the Confidence Gap
In everyday policing, citizens and states interact significantly. Yet even within capable governments like India's, community experiences vary widely.
### New Insights from Indian Slums
This article presents original survey data (8,000 households) and semistructured interviews with 160+ slum communities and their 170+ informal neighborhood leaders—offering fresh perspectives on policing quality in India.
### The Connection Matters
Our findings reveal that well-connected individuals express greater confidence in local policing. This isn't due to fewer conflicts, but rather reflects their ability to leverage social networks with police representatives.
### Practical Implications
The mixed-methods approach highlights conditions under which citizens perceive the police as neutral providers of order versus rent-seeking agents—offering crucial insights for India's governance challenges.
| Local Order, Policing, and Bribes: Evidence from India was authored by Juan Tellez, Erik Wibbels and Anirudh Krishna. It was published by Princeton in World Pol. in 2020. |
