John B. Thompson 
Political Scandal 
Power and Visability in the Media Age

Political scandals have become a pervasive feature of many
societies today. From Profumo to the cash-for-questions scandal,
from Watergate to the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, scandals have come
to play a central role in politics and in the shaping of public
debate. What are the characteristics of political scandals and why
have they come to assume such prominence today? What are the social
and political consequences of the preoccupation with political
scandal in the public domain?

In this major new book Thompson develops a systematic and
wide-ranging analysis of the phenomenon of political scandal. He
shows that the rise of political scandal is linked to the changes
brought about by the development of communication media, which have
transformed the nature of visibility and altered the relations
between public and private life. He analyses the characteristics of
scandals as mediated events and he explains why mediated scandals
in the political field have become increasingly prevalent in recent
years.

Distinguishing between three basic types of political scandal,
Thompson reconstructs the development of sex scandals, financial
scandals and what he calls ‘power scandals’ in Britain and the
United States, showing how scandals unfold and how they form part
of distinctive political cultures of scandal. In the final chapter,
Thompson develops an original theoretical account of political
scandal and its consequences which highlights the connections
between scandal, reputation and trust.

This book is a path-breaking analysis of a troubling phenomenon
which has become a central feature of public life in our societies
today. It will be of great interest to students of sociology,
politics, and media and cultural studies. It will also appeal to a
wider readership interested in social and political issues.

Table of Content

List of Illustrations.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Introduction.

1. What is Scandal?.

2. The Rise of Mediated Scandal.

3. Scandal as a Mediated Event.

4. The Nature of Political Scandal.

5. Sex Scandals in the Political Field.

6. Financial Scandals in the Political Field.

7. Power Scandals.

8. The Consequences of Scandal.

Conclusion.

Notes.

Index.

About the author

John B. Thompson is Reader in Sociology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.