Protests and Law Enforcement: Dynamic Responses in a Democracy

Democracy is a balance between the rights of citizens and the power of the state. Citizens have the right to protest government actions that do not align with their political or moral beliefs; the state via law enforcement is empowered to police these politically charged events. This thesis examines how citizens rights to protest in a democracy and law enforcements function as agents of the state help to shape, and are shaped,by democracy. The research utilized a comparative analysis and case study design to explore positive and negative impacts of specific social and political movements on democracy. This thesis also conducted a case study comparison of three metropolitan area police agencies and their respective policies for handling First Amendment assemblies as a means of comparing how different agencies fulfill their role as enforcers of laws.Key to the relationship between protestor and police is the level of legitimization one attributes to the other. For both to coevolve in a democracy, there must be a willingness to find common ground regarding legislative reforms, adoption of best practices for demonstrations, a deepening of bilateral engagement, and the strengthening of institutional transparency on the part of law enforcement.