Local Political Leadership and Popular Discontent in the Ghetto

Abstract

Using unique sets of data from fifteen large American cities, this paper is an examination of some of the conditions under which objective circumstances surrounding city police and ghetto retail merchants are translated into the public issues of police brutality and exploitation by retailers. The findings of the investigation are based on the relations between three levels of community social organization within cities: city leaders, the general population, and the persons in occupations which in some sense link the two. Analysis of the data indicates that grass roots grievances with police and ghetto merchants have their foundations in the actual practices of these occupational groups. For the consumer to realize that merchants are engaging in unacceptable business prac tices, city leaders must publicly raise the issue of exploitation. Claims of police brutality appear to follow a more "populist" kind of model. Although elites certainly act to mold public opinion, the level of grievances with police and the salience of the public issue of police practices stems more directly from the experiences that citizens have with local law enforcement officers. The role of the police chief is thus seen as a crucial factor in public controversy about police practices.