“En, goed gevoel dat je je stad naar de vernieling hebt geholpen?” Een kwantitatieve analyse van het relationeel besef van burgemeesters in hun publieke reacties op de avondklokrellen

Abstract

“Well, did you enjoy molesting your home town?”: a quantitative analysis of the relational awareness in mayors’ public responses to the COVID-19 anti-curfew riots in the Netherlands When several local mayors fiercely denunciated the violent riots that erupted after a curfew was imposed as a COVID-19 mitigant in the Netherlands, journalistic and academics critics soon warned that such responses often unjustly and counter-effectively depoliticize and delegitimize public protest. The commentators joined a choir of scholars who postulate that public authorities readily distance themselves from troublemakers, let alone acknowledge their grievances. However, our content analysis of mayors’ public responses to the Dutch 2021 anti-curfew riots in 719 newspaper articles finds that office holders portray considerable relational awareness. We find that mayors communicate a complex leadership style that crucially combines strict law enforcement with interpersonal empathy.