Police Organisation: Enlightened Thought, Theories and Context

Abstract

In the introductory chapter, Dukova discusses the theories of police development—orthodox, revisionist and synthetic. The complexity and variance of the public response demonstrate that the introduction of the new element of control into the familiar social hierarchy is not at all simple, straightforward or welcome. By placing the Irish municipal experience within the wider European and imperial frameworks, while testing its links to the enlightened principles fundamental to penal reforms of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Dukova draws a comprehensive picture of the origins of Irish policing. The chapter also provides a historiographic overview, highlights the scholarly gaps the book addresses and introduces sources and methodology.