Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Headshot of Samanth Zuhlke

We are thrilled to announce that Assistant Professor Sam Zuhlke has received the prestigious Lynton Keith Caldwell Prize for, "The Profits of Distrust: Citizen Consumers, Drinking Water and the Crisis of Confidence in the American Government”. The American Political Science Association (APSA) awards the prize for the best book on environmental politics and policy published in the past three years. The award committee indicated the book, “stood out among all of the other submissions for its contribution to environmental policy and its impact on our understanding of water governance.” Sharing the award are coauthors Manuel P. Teodoro, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and  David Switzer, University of Missouri, Columbia. An award ceremony was held during the APSA annual meeting.

The book addresses the burgeoning bottled water industry which presents a paradox: Why do people choose expensive, environmentally destructive bottled water, rather than cheaper, sustainable, and more rigorously regulated tap water? The Profits of Distrust links Americans’ choices about the water they drink to civic life more broadly, marshalling a rich variety of data on public opinion, consumer behavior, political participation, geography, and water quality.

Basic services are the bedrock of democratic legitimacy. Failing, inequitable, basic services cause citizen-consumers to abandon government in favor of commercial competitors. The shift away from public services and toward commercial markets reduces the incentives for citizens to engage with government and, in turn, government officials’ incentives to deliver quality services. This vicious cycle of distrust undermines democracy while commercial firms reap the profits of distrust—disproportionately from the poor and racial/ethnic minority communities. But the vicious cycle can also be virtuous: excellent basic services build trust in government and foster greater engagement between citizens and the state. Rebuilding confidence in American democracy starts with literally rebuilding the basic infrastructure that sustains life.