When a politician’s private actions become public scandal voters often scratch their heads in wonder. But, the transformation of misbehavior into a political scandal is no accident or surprise; it is the product of a set of societal incentives that are weighed against politicians’ own aims and values.
The most prominent of these incentives is political polarization. The more a political system is polarized, the more politicians are incentivized to expose their opponents’ misbehavior (even when it is based on flimsy evidence). This leads to more scandals, but not necessarily more bad behavior.
Scholars have paid a great deal of attention to the topic of political scandal, including its causes and consequences. A substantial body of research takes a topical approach, studying specific scandals and analyzing their media coverage (Entman & Stonbely, 2018; Mandell, 2017).
This article, however, offers a more general theoretical framework for understanding the production of political scandal. It builds on the notion that a scandal narrative is constructed jointly by journalists and the public. The media’s portrayal of the scandal is shaped by how the scandal intersects with a broader cultural discourse of morality, ethics and decency.
By using the sex scandal surrounding Hillary Clinton as an example, this article demonstrates how modern media environments differ in how they construct scandal narratives. In the past, media dominated the construction of these discussions with little audience participation, but interactivity on Twitter makes it easier for average individuals to contribute to the scandal frame in ways that may or may not cohere with journalistic interpretations.