Police legitimacy in Bangladesh: a review of trust, accountability, and democratic governance

This study reviews and synthesises the literature on police legitimacy in Bangladesh. Drawing on 55 sources published between 1979 and 2026, it examines how legitimacy has been conceptualised, the factors that shape it, and the implications of recent accountability and reform debates. The findings show that police legitimacy in Bangladesh cannot be understood through procedural justice alone but is shaped by the interaction of citizen experiences, institutional performance, accountability arrangements, community engagement, and democratic governance. The literature identifies six interconnected themes: conceptualisations of legitimacy, trust and procedural justice, institutional sources of legitimacy, accountability deficits, community engagement, and democratic policing and reform. It also reveals a shift from concerns with trust and procedural fairness towards greater attention to accountability, democratic oversight, reform, and legitimacy restoration, particularly in the post-2024 context. The study develops a multi-level framework integrating interactional, institutional, and democratic dimensions of legitimacy and identifies priorities for future research.