Angry Citizens Research Articles

Angry Citizens and Black Belt Employees: Cascading classifications of and around a predictive algorithm

Over past decades, predictive algorithms have been used extensively as profiling tools in the private sector, but today they are also increasingly entering public sector domains. This article builds on an ethnographic study of the development of a predictive algorithm in a debt collecting public sector organization. The algorithm was designed to profile citizens on the basis of their calculated ‘readiness to pay’ their debt and to guide employees’ case handling according to ‘type’ of citizen. The article examines how the classification of citizens produced by the algorithm was mediated by different visualizations and by organizational actors who superimposed new and different classifications (moral and emotional) onto those provided by the algorithm. The article draws on the concepts of nominal and ordinal classification to identify how intended non-hierarchical classification glides into new hierarchical valuations of both citizens and employees. Classifications were ‘cascading’ – a concept the article develops to account for how classification of and around the algorithm multiplied and had organizational ripple effects. Based on empirical insights, the study advocates an agnostic approach to how algorithmic predictions impact work, organizations, and the situation of profiled individuals. It emphasizes a dynamic and and unstable relationship between algorithms and organizational practices.

It’s the Moral Economy, Stupid! Anger Toward Economic Inequality and Populist Voting

The present study sets out to investigate the mechanism by which ordinary citizens are moved to anger toward economic inequality, and its political consequences. Since anger toward economic inequality is triggered by the perception that core distributive norms have been violated, it is argued that this emotional response mainly benefits political parties who defend redistributive values and establish clear responsibility for their violation. Results from twenty-six ISSP countries provide strong evidence that angry citizens are more inclined to vote for economically progressive populist parties and for economically progressive pluralist parties than for parties taking conservative stances on economic issues. This study thus lends empirical support to the assumption that populist parties attract angry voters by speaking the language of moral economy.

Policy Change in Renewable Energy Projects: A Case Study of the NECEC Project

As countries face higher environmental and political pressure to combat climate change and accelerate the energy transition, hydroelectricity has secured its place as the prime candidate for a reliable and clean alternative to fossil fuels. However, the expansion of hydroelectric infrastructure has seen protests from local coalitions of preservationists and angry citizens, sometimes aided by the deep pocket of energy competitors, leading to the termination of several projects. This paper seeks to better understand this dilemma between ambitious climate goals and local opposition by analyzing the ongoing case of the NECEC, a hydroelectric transmission line proposed by a Hydro-Quebec-CMP partnership to deliver electricity from Canada to Massachusetts, US via Maine. The case study follows the theoretical foundation of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), a long-standing and empirically supported theory of public policy that emphasizes the role of coalitions in translating beliefs into policy change. In addition to confirming the framework's usefulness in explaining highly contentious cases, this study also provides critical insights into how coalitions spread favorable information, the strategic choice of political instruments, the partisan composition of coalitions, and the added complexity of involving a foreign company. To smooth out future large-scale projects, the paper makes recommendations for decision-makers based on bipartisan public engagement with community embeddedness, as well as better project design regarding fair compensation and reduced visibility.

Janatha Aragalaya: The People’s Struggle in Sri Lanka

On 9 July 2022, angry citizens protesting economic mismanagement stormed the Sri Lanka President's palace in Colombo. Four days later, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid a deepening crisis and widespread protests there, escaped to the neighboring island nation of the Maldives and flew into Singapore from there the following evening. The primary objective of this paper is to provide some initial thoughts on the factors that led to the Aragalaya (struggle). Thus, this article attempts to understand the major sources that gave birth to Janatha Aragalaya, commonly named by Sri Lankans as the #GotaGoHome protest movement, the significance of the movement and some suggestions to build a democratic and peaceful Sri Lanka. The article will first provide some primary information about the island’s demographics and socio-economic conditions and then discuss the causes that gave birth to the protest movement. This section will also explain why the state and its institutions, such as security forces, did not use violence against the movement. To prepare the article, the author interviewed Sri Lankans who participated in the Aragalaya. Conversations were held in Tamil, Sinhala, and English throughout the protests from 12 April to 17 July via WhatsApp and Facebook messengers.

Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of Ressentiment

<p>In this article, we undertake an empirical examination of the psychology of what is often called “the angry citizen,” highlighting <em>ressentiment</em> as an important emotional mechanism of grievance politics. Contrary to the short‐lived, action‐prone emotion of anger proper, <em>ressentiment</em> transmutes the inputs of grievance politics like deprivation of opportunity, injustice, shame, humiliation, envy, and inefficacious anger, into the anti‐social outputs of morally righteous indignation, destructive anger, hatred, and rage. Our empirical probe uses qualitative and quantitative analysis of 164 excerpts from interviews with US “angry citizens” from the following works: <em>Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right</em> (2016) by Arlie Russell Hochschild, <em>Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era</em> (2017) by Michael Kimmel, and <em>Stiffed: The Roots of Modern Male Rage</em> (2019) by Susan Faludi. In these seemingly “angry” excerpts, we find markers matching the psychological footprint of <em>ressentiment</em> instead of anger proper: victimhood, envy, powerlessness; the defenses of splitting, projection, and denial; and preference for inaction, anti‐preferences, and low efficacy. We conclude on the significance of the distinction between anger proper and <em>ressentiment</em> for understanding the psychology of grievance politics.</p>

The challenge of implementing public-private partnerships: a transaction costs perspective on waste to energy projects in Indonesia

PurposeThis study aims to explore the reasons behind the lengthy delays in completing a single public-private partnership (PPP) project in Indonesia and investigates how the transaction costs play a significant role in hindering the project’s success.Design/methodology/approachTo broaden insight into the transaction cost theory, the authors used a single case study approach to provide a more in-depth analysis of a context whose complexity can be fully explored. As the primary data sources, 16 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with the stakeholders directly involved in the project’s initiation, design and execution.FindingsThis case study demonstrates that transaction cost issues, both political and economic, play a significant role. This study has identified four main problems associated with transaction costs hindering project success, namely, executing agencies’ lack of knowledge and experience, lack of coordination for such a complex governance structure that links too many stakeholders and the financial and political risk that increase the uncertainty and public distrust.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes mainly to the PPP and transaction costs economics literature, providing empirical evidence on why major PPP projects may fail to be procured. The Greater Bandung waste to energy (WTE) Project case demonstrates that transaction costs, both political and economic, have played a significant role in the lengthy delay of the PPP project.Practical implicationsAs the project involves many transaction cost issues, mapping the failure factors at the project sites can significantly contribute to the practitioners/stakeholders involved in the PPP WTE projects. Therefore, this study provides a lesson to the policymakers at all levels interested in PPPs to consider the issues of transaction costs related to the PPP projects. It can be used as guidance as well as a reference for future PPP WTE projects in Indonesia.Social implicationsMapping the failure factors also signifying the response of the public in the PPP WTE projects undertaken. As the citizens become more rule-conscious and rights-conscious, they demand the opportunity to participate in creating rules and project plans. If the project failed to consult with affected communities and undermined democratic accountability, the angry citizens will confront the government to cancel the project. Therefore, political and economic influences for public attitude play significant roles in making the PPP WTE projects successful.Originality/valueThis study provides insight into the transaction cost issues that have hindered the completion of Indonesia’s PPP WTE project over the past 15 years. Additionally, the project feasibility analysis should include an understanding of transaction costs for partnering in PPP.

Law in the Shadows of Confederate Monuments

Hundreds of Confederate monuments stand across the United States. In recent years, leading historians have come forward to clarify that these statues were erected not just as memorials but to express white supremacist intimidation in times of racially oppressive conduct. As public support for antiracist action grows, many communities are inclined to remove public symbols that cause emotional harm, create constant security risks and dishonor the values of equality and unity. Finding a lawful path to removal is not always clear and easy. The political power brokers who choose whether monuments will stay or go often do not walk daily in their shadows. In recent years, eight Southern state legislatures enacted monument preservation legislation designed to thwart local removal efforts. These laws have prompted bitter conflicts, sometimes leading angry citizens to topple massive stone or bronze monuments themselves. The challenges present fertile ground for innovative lawyering. Creative applications of state property, nuisance and contract laws have led to removals notwithstanding the prohibitions of state preservation laws. When state law blocks removal or contextualization, communities may look to federal law as a source for taking antiracist action. First Amendment doctrine governing expressive speech has not provided a fruitful solution. Despite the expressive nature of Confederate monuments, efforts to weaponize the First Amendment by both sides of the monument debate have failed, largely due to the government speech doctrine. Given the age and quality of most monuments, copyright law is also not likely to provide an effective federal claim. The Federal Civil Rights Act offers an untapped but promising foundation for resolving these controversies. Title VI and Title VII could be used to challenge monuments that contribute to a hostile work or educational environment. Federal civil rights claims would supersede state legislation enacted to prevent removal of racially hostile symbols. Even when state law does not present removal barriers, communities who seek to take meaningful anti-racist action could ground their initiatives in the Civil Rights Act’s core value of equality. For all who are confronting this issue, this Article seeks to provide a legal and strategic framework for acknowledging history while reclaiming the symbolic heart of our public spaces and a means to assure that the symbols we elevate affirm shared contemporary values.

Street Activity as a Form of Election Campaigning

Protest activity-street actions, which have many forms and themes, are used by both parliamentary and nonparliamentary parties, which have a formal status (registered) and informal (unregistered) parties . Until 2011– 2012, these methods of political work were used primarily by parties calling themselves opposition, but after mass ‘white ribbon’ protests of so-called angry citizens, this method of attracting attention and mobilising supporters was actively used by pro-presidential/pro-government parties . Previously published works have already investigated the forms and frequency of street actions [1, 2] . In this article, the results of the study will be supplemented by an analysis of the use of street actions by parties as a form of agitation during the 2016 state Duma elections .

Angry citizens: civic anger and the politics of curative democracy in India

This article examines the emergence of the angry citizen as a legitimate political actor in post-colonial Indian democracy. Approaching such ‘civic anger’ as a historically constituted and socio-politically embedded formation rather than as a subjectively and individually experienced feeling, I show that the rise of the angry citizen was linked to the consolidation of a distinctive politics of curative democracy in the ‘long 1970s’. The lineages of the civic anger of twenty-first century India may be traced to this older formation of curative democracy. The point here is not to offer a chronological revision of the origins of ‘new India’, but to consider the generalisable political implications of the idea of curative democracy, and to identify the distinctive forms of political agency that are associated with the call to cure, reform or renew democracy.

Globalization and Social Justice in Sports Broadcasting

This article highlights sport broadcasting as an emergent battlefield of “globalization from above and below” based on analysis of the strained relationship between Al-Jazeera Sport (AJS) and sports fans in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over subscription fees to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup games. The article illustrates how sports globalization weakened national broadcasters’ bidding power and allowed corporations to turn the World Cup from a free to high-fee event, leaving angry citizens from the MENA region to fend for themselves. A survey of online media illustrates how these angry citizens shared tactics to resist these fees.

International Negotiations in the Shadow of National Elections

AbstractThis study examines the role elections play in negotiations between states and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Although loans made by the IMF often require countries to introduce painful austerity measures that provoke a backlash from angry citizens, some governments are able to negotiate more favorable terms than others. Original data on the substantive content of IMF loans show that governments leverage imminent elections to obtain more lenient loan terms. Conditions that require labor market reforms in exchange for IMF financing are relatively less stringent in loans negotiated within six months before a pending democratic election, all else equal. The further away elections are from loan negotiations, the more stringent the labor conditions included in countries’ loan programs. Elections give governments leverage in their international negotiations and this leverage is effective even when states negotiate with unelected bureaucrats during times of economic crisis.

The Saitama Saturday Club Case: Political Meddling, Public Opinion, and Antitrust Enforcement in Japan at a Turning Point

This paper tells the story of the Saitama Saturday Club case and how it changed antitrust enforcement in Japan. Although the case is often cited as an example of failed antitrust enforcement, in fact, the case had a lasting and positive impact in many unexpected ways. The case opposed Japan’s antitrust enforcement agency against the country’s mighty construction industry. For years, the construction companies had rigged bids for thousands of public works in Saitama Prefecture, in clear violation of Japan’s Antimonopoly Act. Yet they escaped relatively scot-free, as the Japan Fair Trade Commission decided not to bring criminal charges and instead handled the case with a trifle administrative penalty.But this docile treatment triggered a public backlash. Angry citizens sued the bid-riggers for damages, an unprecedented move that would subsequently be replicated in over eighty other cases throughout Japan. More broadly, the case heightened public awareness of the pernicious nature of bid-rigging and galvanized popular support for more robust antitrust enforcement. In turn, this support enabled the Japan Fair Trade Commission to move against entrenched interests and, in the years that followed, gradually step up enforcement, an evolution that continues to this day. In this sense, the Saitama Saturday Club case constituted a turning point for antitrust enforcement in Japan.

Perske's List: False Confessions From 75 Persons With Intellectual Disability

N 65 have been exonerated. N 29 have been exonerated by DNA tests N 5 of them (Jerome Bowden, Earl Correll, Girvies Davis, Barry Fairchild, and Cornelius Singleton) were convicted before many investigation techniques (including DNA testing and the videotaping or police interrogations) were developed and applied to such cases. N 1 person (Joe Arridy), in a very old case, received a posthumous pardon from a governor. His action may inspire others to seek posthumous pardons for individuals who were wrongly executed in the distant past.

Constitutional rule bending: When angry citizens push back and fight for democracy

Constitutional rule bending: When angry citizens push back and fight for democracy

Creating a Healthy Democracy

It has never been more difficult for local governments to meet the challenges they face. The issues have grown increasingly complex. Angry citizens and cynical news media mock the political process and despair of finding solutions to community problems. The National Civic League, however, has come to recognize that issues do not stop communities—communities stop themselves. No challenge is too big or difficult when government, business, nonprofits, and citizens come together to work toward common goals. The Civic Index is a valuable tool for communities to use to evaluate where they stand within the new realities of citizen democracy and to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

Twelve Angry Citizens: Can Citizens’ Juries Improve Local Democracy in New Zealand?

(1999). Twelve Angry Citizens: Can Citizens’ Juries Improve Local Democracy in New Zealand? Political Science: Vol. 50, Local Government in New Zealand, pp. 236-246.

Structures in the Stream: Water, Science, and the Rise of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

As the Mississippi and other midwestern rivers inundated town after town during the summer of 1993, concerned and often angry citizens questioned whether the very technologies and structures intended to tame the rivers did not, in fact, increase the severity of the floods. Much of the controversy swirled around the apparent culpability of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the designer and builder of many of the flood control systems that failed. In this book, Todd Shallat probes the origins of the United States' oldest and largest water management agency and explores how the Corps' emphasis on scientific planning cut against the grain of a nation deeply committed to private enterprise and community rights. Combining extensive research with a lively, engaging style, Shallat follows the technological elite of the army from European antecedents through the boom years of river building after the Civil War. He tells the story of monumental construction and engineering fiascoes, public service and public corruption, and the rise of science and the army expert as agents of the state. Information on engineering during the Civil War, the influence of women and family on the political and organizational philosophy of the Corps, and numerous historical illustrations add interesting highlights to the story. Much more than an institutional history, Structures in the Stream offers significant insights into American society, which has alternately supported the massive public works projects that are a legacy of our French heritage and opposed them based on the democratic, individualist tradition inherited from Britain. It will provide important reading for a wide audience in environmental andmilitary history, the history of science and technology, policy studies, and American cultural history.

The Baldwin Hills reservoir failure

I think it would be a good idea if I start by describing what my affiliation with Baldwin Hills was. The failure happened, as we know, in December 1963. Within a day or so after the failure the mayor of Los Angeles under (as you might understand) certain pressures formed what was called locally, a blue-ribbon committee. It consisted of several professors from different universities around the Los Angeles area and was chaired by a retired judge. It had a lawyer in the group, and representatives of different areas among the professors: the seismic, soil mechanics (me), and geology areas, and a professor who was in the petroleum area. We did a very cursory study of the failure, in a few weeks, because we had a deadline. The mayor had angry citizens' groups to address and had to ameliorate things by showing that he was doing something, so we had to prepare a report by something like February. This meant a rather brief study of everything. The report was fairly inclusive; I will refer to one or two things in it here that Mr. Jansen did not treat, but it had to be done under a deadline. That was the end of my immediate involvement except for getting the State Board of Inquiry report a few months later with the immensely thorough job that they did in digging trenches, and generally doing things to the reservoir that it had not experienced during the failure. There followed a long gap in which Don Hudson, a seismological person, and I at Cal Tech prepared a little paper pointing out what our view was at that time on the role of fault movements in the failure of the reservoir; it appeared a couple of years later. Nothing else happened for quite some time, until in 1969 I was approached by Stan Wilson who was working at that time with Professor Casagrande for Standard Oil Company as a result of the suit which had been brought against the combined oil companies by, I think, the insurance companies and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP). Immediately after the reservoir failed, of course, there were a great many claims for damages, and after a certain amount of nudging, the insurance companies paid off on these claims to the tune of something like $15,000,000. I was then employed by Mr. Wilson on behalf of that oil company group; my checks came from Standard Oil. So I want to make quite clear what my involvement was at that time. I was paid by Standard Oil. For the mayor's Board of Inquiry I was (somewhat resentfully) not paid by anybody, of course. That is part of being a good citizen.