En nombre de la seguridad: Lecturas sobre policí­a y formación estatal

Abstract

Police institutions have been little studied in the academic world so far, and research done has emphasised models of management and processes of reform implemented over the last two decades. Nevertheless, police power played a fundamental role in state formation in XIX century, in diverse cultural, national and territorial contexts. This work tries to gather the basic conclusions of some European studies on this question, and other case studies in Latin America, paying special attention to the territory of the Rio de la Plata. It tries to analyze comparatively the processes of institutionalization of the police power, their articulation with the construction of state authority, and the different models adopted. "In the name of security", and public order, police forces were organized as spaces of exception, into which the juridical regulation splits from its effective application. The historical and philosophical itineraries are proposed as a way of elucidation of the relation between state and police power