The power of compassion-seeking: how enforcement officers' discursive strategies foster citizens' cooperative responses under policy ambiguity

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Yang, Fan; Chai, Guigui
• 署名单位: Nankai University; East China University Political Science & Law
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH AND THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1053-1858; 1477-9803
• DOI: 10.1093/jopart/muag012
• 发表日期: 2026-07-01
• 关键词: street-level bureaucracy; frontline enforcement; Survey experiment; policy ambiguity; compassion-seeking; street-level bureaucrats; COMPLIANCE MOTIVATIONS; work

摘要

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.