Reasons to obey and disobey law and authorities

• Grant number: 18/09854-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2018
• End date: May 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Sergio França Adorno de Abreu
• Grantee: José Otávio Povoa de Souza
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07923-7 - Center of the Study of Violence - NEV/USP, AP.CEPID

Abstract

This project aims at assisting NEV's main research project. The main purpose of NEV´s research is to analyze how the legitimacy of key institutions for democracy is constructed, or jeopardized, by exploring the contacts between citizens and civil servants. In other words, we are concerned with how the performance of institutions affects citizen's perceptions of political legitimacy. Based on a survey methodology, two research designs were developed. The first one focuses on eight "key areas" of São Paulo city is longitudinal panel, with three waves of data collection (2015, 2017 and 2018) and a sample size of 1200 (in the first wave). The second design is a regular transversal survey which represents São Paulo city as a whole, with a sample size of 1800 citizens, conducted in 2015 and 2018. The questionnaire consists in evaluating issues such as the contact of the population with social control institutions (and their judgment on such contact), their institutional trust, their normative expectations and their duty to obey. This specific scientific initiation research will contribute to the analysis of sensitive questions not addressed in depth in the ongoing research. Through comparative research using the 5 databases, this investigation will explore the reasons indicated by respondents to obey the laws, the police and the judiciary. Using a mix methods approach, the fellow student will analyze the closed and open-ended questions of the survey. (AU)