Elections are governed by complex rules to ensure fair competition in a political field. Due to COVID-19, the 2021 New South Wales local government elections were subject to further regulations, widely considered as lacking logic and causing perverse consequences. The rules engendered no moral compulsion, yet in some cases were followed to the letter, enforced forcefully, or collegially disregarded. Operationalizing the concept of ‘moral atmosphere’ yields explanations as to these differences, and in turn, the conditions that engender these collective affects. Creative relationality—itself dependent on affective receptivity—is necessary to rescript moral atmospheres in ways that enable collective approaches to rule (non)-compliance. In contrast, affective practices of forceful enforcement can give rise to a tense moral atmosphere in ways that lead to new structures of privilege. Different relational histories shape the use and impacts of rules, while rules contribute to variations in electoral cultures.

Tanya Jakimow is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU. She is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, working on a project examining women’s political labour and pathways to politics in Medan, Indonesia, Dehradun, India, and, more recently, extended to Australia. Her theoretical concerns as outlined in her most recent monograph Susceptibility in Development: the micro-politics of urban development in India and Indonesia, (July 2020, Oxford University Press) include the intersection of affect and emotions, power, personhood. Tanya has previously conducted research on state-citizen relations, community development, agrarian change, and civil-society/NGOs.