Original
The power of compassion-seeking: how enforcement officers’ discursive strategies foster citizens’ cooperative responses under policy ambiguity
Abstract
Abstract Street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) often employ compassion-seeking strategies when interacting with citizens under ambiguous policy conditions. However, citizens’ responses to these strategies remain largely unexplored. This study thus examines whether SLBs’ compassion-seeking strategies promote inspectees’ cooperative responses under policy ambiguity. We conducted survey experiments using four real-world enforcement scenarios across emergency and routine regulatory contexts in China. The results show that SLBs’ compassion-seeking strategies significantly increase inspectees’ willingness to comply, acceptance of enforcement, emotional compassion toward SLBs, and supportive intentions. Furthermore, the effectiveness of compassion-seeking is stronger in emergency contexts than in routine regulatory contexts. The findings indicate that compassion-seeking is a context-sensitive and underappreciated mechanism through which SLBs can reduce antagonism, establish constructive relationships, and enhance both the efficacy and perceived legitimacy of frontline enforcement.
中文
寻求同情的力量：政策模糊情境下执法人员的话语策略如何促进公民的合作性回应
摘要
摘要 街头官僚（SLBs）在政策模糊条件下与公民互动时，常常采用寻求同情的策略。然而，公民对这些策略的回应在很大程度上仍未得到探讨。本研究据此考察，在政策模糊情境下，街头官僚的寻求同情策略是否会促进被检查者的合作性回应。我们在中国的情境中，围绕应急监管与常规监管背景下的四个真实执法场景开展了调查实验。结果表明，街头官僚的寻求同情策略显著提高了被检查者的遵从意愿、对执法的接受度、对街头官僚的情感同情以及支持意向。此外，寻求同情策略的有效性在应急情境中强于常规监管情境。研究发现表明，寻求同情是一种情境敏感且未得到充分重视的机制，街头官僚借此可以减少对抗、建立建设性关系，并提升一线执法的效能与感知合法性。
关键词
街头官僚、寻求同情、政策模糊性、执法、合作回应、调查实验、公民遵从、监管情境