Assessment of the Case Studies and Main Findings

Based on the evidence found in each case study, various research insights can be drawn from the findings that give account of the dynamics and logics of action of the process conducive to police counter-reform. Before proceeding to examine police counter-reform in a disaggregated manner according to its mechanisms, indicators and empirical manifestations in each case examined, three common traits should be outlined beforehand that reveal general patterns across the cases. Firstly, police counter-reform is inherently actor-driven—as observable in the dynamics of de-democratization (cf. Lange 2003, Kneuer 2021), which brings to light the decisive role of agency in such a process.