A political scandal is the exposure of a politician’s misconduct, often in the form of corrupt behavior or other ethical transgressions. These actions may harm a politician’s reputation and cause voters to question their trust in him or her. In addition, they may increase the likelihood that a politician’s government will be dissolved early. The recent #MeToo scandals are a clear reminder that political scandals are highly contextual, implying that the actions and types of behavior that constitute a scandal may differ across countries. They also show that a society’s culture is an important factor to consider when interpreting the meaning and impact of a particular scandal (Esser & Hartung, 2004).
Furthermore, studies on political scandals are mainly conducted at the intersection between political science, psychology, and communication research. A critical review of this literature shows that the most prevalent dependent variables are related to citizens’ evaluations of politicians and political institutions. These effects can be moderated by different moderators such as citizens’ prior attitudes, political trust and cynicism, the extent to which a scandal is exposed, and the type of scandal.
It is vital to investigate the interaction between these various factors and their effects on political scandals. To do so, it would be helpful to design panel studies that include multiple waves of data so that the same participants are surveyed over time. This allows for the comparison of political evaluations made both before and after a scandal emerges.