The Politics of Scandal: A Comparative Examination of Political Scandals Voting Effects
Loading...
Date
2024-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
In liberal democracies around the world, political scandals are often seen as a positive sign of accountability for the wrongdoings of bad actors within a given institution. The public's awareness, along with the freedom of the press, constitute some of the most important pillars of a robust and functioning democracy. However, what exactly are political scandals, and does the type of democracy it takes place in have any effects on the severity of the scandal? My research aims to answer these questions, as well as further enrich the woefully under-researched field of political scandals. Using a comparative examination of presidential and parliamentary democracies, this thesis seeks to explain whether a scandal in one form of democracy results in a more severe backlash on the incumbent executive compared to whether it takes place in the other form. As such, I will be looking at four political scandals that have occurred in the United States and the United Kingdom since the mid-1990s, analyzing both trends in public opinion polls as well as general election results. By tracking these polls and comparing changes in approval to subsequent election results, I can then compare the overall severity of the scandal and gauge whether a more severe electoral effect is present. I define severity as the loss in approval following the scandal and the average loss in the party’s seats and popular vote share in the subsequent election. These findings point to my hypothesis that a scandal in a parliamentary democracy is more severe than in a presidential democracy, as I find that average electoral consequences in subsequent elections are more dramatic within these systems. Overall, I hope to shed light on the role of scandals in democracies around the world and help showcase how they can be a positive sign for democratic longevity and executive accountability.
Description
Keywords
Political Scandals, Comparative Politics, Executive Approval Rating, Democratic Elections, Political Science