Scandal (political)

Abstract

This entry distinguishes the concept of scandal from that of corruption and highlights the media nature of this phenomenon in contemporary societies and its inseparable link with the manifestations of public opinion. The recurrence of scandals responds to a set of conditions that favour public scrutiny of behaviour likely to provoke moral rejection and facilitate expressions of indignation by countless actors. Thus, the way in which political competition is played out in the media and digitalisation has given new actors an increasingly important role in setting the importance of each case on the public agenda. Moreover, their impact on the image of the figures concerned depends on the existence of various contingent factors and the influence of the communicative strategies deployed by the actors involved in the scandalisation process. Their social effects go beyond their electoral impact, which is usually limited by many factors, or their possible consequences for certain political actors, as scandals can also affect citizens’ political attitudes.