Robin Hood or rogue? Leadership dynamics and legitimate power in the donmanship of Christopher “Dudus” Coke

Abstract This paper examines the concept of legitimate power through the leadership dynamics between Christopher “Dudus” Coke, a drug cartel leader, and the Tivoli Gardens community in Jamaica. Drawing on French and Raven’s framework of social power, it examines how legitimate power was constructed and sustained within the Coke-Tivoli context. The analysis identifies a necessity-driven legitimacy, whereby Coke addressed “wicked problems” of poverty, unemployment, and insecurity through service provision, reciprocal trust, and a survival-based social contract that fostered loyalty and a level of voluntary compliance. His shared identity with Tivoli Gardens further generated representational-symbolic legitimacy, reinforcing mutuality and extending his influence beyond material provision. The paper also explores the moral and operational dimensions of his authority as both protector and enforcer. Situating the Coke–Tivoli relationship within broader debates on transnational criminal organisations, communities, and the state, the analysis conceptualises legitimate power as relational and contextual, calling for a rethinking of legitimacy as a fluid, co-constructed process in contexts where state functions are challenge.