Being Outraged or Not. How Levallois-Perret Voters Consider Their Mayor's Behavior

This study of the way scandals that affect Patrick Balkany, mayor of Levallois-Perret (1983-1995, reelected in 2001), are perceived by local voters examines the social roots of moral judgment. It shows three parallel evolutions in the context of Levallois-Perret since the 1980's: first, after a voluntaristic urban policy that aimed at transforming the city into a classy suburb of Paris, the coexistence of two social groups (older inhabitants who belong to the popular classes, & new residents with higher social status); second, an evolution of the forms & representations of the clientelist relation; third, a diversification of the base for moral judgment (from civic criticism to more contextualized indignations). Considering a plurality, without relativism, of the gestures of criticism engaged by this diversity (i.e. not focusing only on the result of the election), the paper contradicts the discourses which were given a large coverage after the 2001 election, that insisted on the lack of critical capacity of the voters (& especially of the popular classes). Adapted from the source document.