Oh! Well that certainly helps, I shouldn't have assumed they didn't exist.
>flag without recourse
I'm just referring to posts of a certain subject matter that tend to get flagged. If I'm anti-XYZ, is there anything stopping someone from flagging all things XYZ so they don't make the front page?
Yes, two things: (1) we take away flagging privileges from accounts that appear to be flagging based on such an agenda, and (2) users email us to review cases where they feel an article is on topic for Hacker News and should not have been flagged. We always review those cases, and sometimes we turn off the flags (but not always—it depends on whether we agree that the article is on-topic, contains significant new information, and can serve as the basis for a substantial discussion, among other factors).
More explanation at https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que..., including https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46378818.