Beck, xxix: "It has become a kind of reflex, a government-wide inability or refusal to face consequences for any of the outrages of the past two decades. The term for this reflex is 'impunity culture,' and it has transformed how the US government relates to the people it governs."
post-Occupy Wall Street, "[w]ealth inequality has persisted and even worsened: From 2007 to 2019, household wealth decreased for all but the richest 20 percent of households" (450)
"Similarly, the central demand of Black Lives Matter was that police stop killing so many Americans. That didn't happen, either: The number of Americans killed by police increased every year between 2016 and 2022" (450)
"These two movements against impunity culture have had enormous and tangible effects on the country's political discourse, its citizens' understanding of the forces that shape their daily lives, and the views of millions of people. The government's specific remit, however, is policy, laws, and outcomes. On those counts, the government has made it clear that it is not willing to negotiate with its citizens at all." (450)
"By enabling and supercharging impunity culture, the war on terror has degraded citizenship itself" (452)
see also "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens," which endeavors to figure out "[t]o what extent is the broad body of US citizens sovereign, semi-sovereign, or largely powerless?"(Gilens and Page, Perspectives on Politics, 2014)