Political scandal reveals unethical or illegal behavior of politicians that leads to public outrage and calls for reform. These events often spark lasting changes in governance and policy-making, from reshaping the debate around ethical behaviors to creating new legal and regulatory mechanisms that increase transparency and accountability. Historical scandals, from Tammany Hall to Watergate and recent campaign finance controversies, illustrate a persistent struggle to maintain integrity in political institutions.
This week on Politics In Question Lee and Julia discuss the effects of political corruption with Charles Hunt and Jaclyn Kettler, Political Science Professors at Boise State University and hosts of the podcast Scandalized. They dive into the definition of a political scandal, the impact it can have on citizens’ trust in politics and the way that media coverage shapes the perception of those scandals.
A political scandal is an accusation of unethical or illegal behavior by a politician that leads to public outrage and often results in investigations or resignations. But a political scandal’s actual consequences can vary greatly depending on the political climate in which it takes place. In this article, the authors use a novel model to examine how political polarization affects scandal-making and how it may contribute to increased or decreased rates of actual misbehavior. They show that the more ideologically aligned voters are, the more likely they are to expose misconduct by members of their own party and to throw baseless accusations at opposing parties – regardless of whether these allegations are true or not.