A political scandal occurs when a government official engages in unethical behavior that is seen by citizens as a breach of public trust. Scandals often elicit calls for investigations and resignations, and can have profound effects on the political climate and public perception of government institutions and officials. Scandals are typically highlighted in the media and are widely influenced by political, social, and cultural factors. Although scholars from diverse disciplines, primarily communication research and political science, have studied the effects of political scandals, a comprehensive overview of the literature is lacking.
Using meta-analysis, this article provides the first systematic review of the effects of political scandals. A total of 78 studies with more than 54,000 participants are included in the analysis. The vast majority of the studies investigate the effect of single politician scandals, while one study examines multipolitician scandals. More than two-thirds of the studies use student samples, and most of the research is published in political science and psychology journals, with only three studies appearing in communication journals.
The coding results show that scandals usually have negative evaluative effects on politicians, but the scope of these effects depends on moderator variables such as citizens’ previous views and attitudes, their general level of political trust and cynicism, their affiliation with the implicated party, and the type of scandal. Additionally, political scandals are likely to trigger behavioural responses from politicians who are not directly involved in the scandal, such as breaking or limiting their links with the implicated party and switching parties.