The role of politicians in the cause of the riots

During the week, The Independent covered one of the most interesting pieces of work that has come out on the causes of the riots.

It’s a piece of research that was released earlier in August from a group of researchers at Essex and Royal Holloway Universities:

Lack of trust in politicians was a significant factor behind the riots that erupted in England this month, according to a major academic research project.

Although poverty and lax moral values played a part in people’s decision to join the disturbances, a stronger influence was their attitude towards politicians…

According to the report, “There will be burning and a-looting tonight,” politicians are seen as “a class apart” who abide by their own rules. It warns that tough measures to punish rioters such as withdrawing their state benefits –backed by Conservative ministers– are likely to backfire. Such penalties could “further alienate some sections of society from the public realm” and “only serve to compound the problem of public disorder rather than addressing it.”

The authors say political factors behind the riots could include “middle class looting” by bankers in the financial crisis as well as the MPs’ expenses scandal. They may have “made it more acceptable for everyone else to ‘take’ what they wanted, when they wanted it.” Another factor could be mistrust of the police, creating “alienation.”

The research, based on opinion polls and focus group discussions, was underway before the riots but provides a unique insight into the minds of those who took to the streets. Data about people’s general willingness to break the law were analysed to test the three most common explanations for the riots.

“People’s disposition towards state institutions weigh more heavily in shaping their propensity to obey the law than their belief systems and personal values,” the report concludes. “This finding has obvious and considerable implications for the question of how best to respond to the riots. If people’s willingness to abide by laws laid down by the state is compromised by their jaundiced view of state institutions and their mistrust of political elites, an effective response will have to address political engagement in general and the perceived ‘looting’ of state resources by those at the top in particular.”

As an aside, it’s not exactly unknown for journalists to misrepresent academic research or even – far worse in many ways – for the press release put out about academic research to misrepresent the very research it is promoting.

In this case, checking through the original report, the press release and the Independent’s coverage they all seem to have fairly represented each other. Indeed, it’s notable that where the Indy’s language could have slipped into using words that exaggerate what the research was saying, it doesn’t.

One caveat though – the research was started before the riots and was looking at the ethical behaviour of politicians, so there is a risk of bias in it finding that such behaviour mattered given that was what it was looking for in the first place.

Another caveat – the long-term trends in trust are not nearly as bad as commonly painted, which does raise the question of why riots now?