This chapter begins the empirical examination of the second political service provided by firms: societal control. I situate this political service within China’s solid waste treatment sector, where the development of waste incineration plants has consistently faced public opposition and protests. Drawing on original data from all 351 incineration plants built or under construction in Chinese cities between 1999 and 2016, as well as records of protests against these plants, I demonstrate a strong relationship between protests and firm ownership in this sector. During the bidding stage for waste treatment contracts, local governments factor in societal control when selecting firms to build and operate these plants. If local governments anticipate employing appeasement strategies toward protesters, private firms are more likely to thrive in a city. Conversely, if governments expect to rely on suppression strategies, state-owned enterprises tend to dominate.