Symbolic power and police legitimacy: The Royal Ulster Constabulary

In the following discussion we approach the issue of police legitimacy inNorthern Ireland through Habermas's theory of legitimacy and the shiftinglocus of conflict from the economic to the cultural sphere. It is argued thatthe cultural sphere is often a major site of conflict in divided societies suchas Northern Ireland. The process of economic globalisation – a crucialfactor in the emergence of identity based movements elsewhere – has hadthe effect of intensifying conflict over identity and its symbolicrepresentation. The debate on the reform of the RUC in the wake of thePatten Commission Report has focused principally on the recommendationthat the symbolism of the police be changed. Although this conflict oversymbols condenses the central problem of the exclusion and misrecognitionof nationalists it also has the effect of distracting attention from the moreuniversal theme of the Report: the relationship between citizens, police andthe state.