We applied the “informed citizen” thesis to public confidence in the police in the Philippines—a topic that has surprisingly received little research attention. We analyzed four waves of survey data from the Asian Barometer Survey (ABS), and we applied propensity score matching (PSM) method and regression models to the data. We operationalized education, interest in politics, and Internet usage as indicators of an informed citizen. We tested whether they are predictive of confidence in the police. Confidence in the Philippine police has gradually improved from 2002 to 2014. Regression analysis found that citizens with more education and more Internet usage displayed lower levels of confidence in the Philippine police. We also found that an interaction effect between education and political interests, with education having a stronger connection to confidence in the police among those with greater political interests. Our findings support the informed citizen thesis and shed new light on the study of confidence in the Philippine police.

中文翻译：

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教育、互联网使用和对警察的信心：在菲律宾测试“知情公民”论文

我们将“知情公民”论点应用于公众对菲律宾警察的信心——这一主题令人惊讶地很少受到研究关注。我们分析了来自亚洲晴雨表调查 (ABS) 的四波调查数据，并对数据应用了倾向评分匹配 (PSM) 方法和回归模型。我们将教育、政治兴趣和互联网使用作为知情公民的指标。我们测试了它们是否可以预测对警察的信心。从2002年到2014年，人们对菲律宾警察的信心逐渐提高。回归分析发现，受教育程度高、上网次数多的公民对菲律宾警察的信心水平较低。我们还发现，教育和政治利益之间存在交互作用，在具有更大政治利益的人中，教育与对警察的信心有更强的联系。我们的研究结果支持知情公民的论点，并为研究对菲律宾警察的信心提供了新的思路。