I've got a simpler solution to this, which will also address short-term fluctuations in how boring a realm is:
The ratings never take effect immediately. Rather, they phase in over a period of, say, two weeks.
Hmmm....
No....that means if a ruler does fix things, he still gets two weeks of punishment.
Changes to indicate increasing boredom should have a time delay: changes to indicate improvement should be immediate. So if you're a ruler and you see you're getting unpopular, you can fix it fast.
Alternatively, give "zero-time-delay" values for informational purposes, but make game mechanics use time-delayed values.
Overall though I still just think that we would need a very, very clear set of norms and rules on how the feature is intended to be used.
