Political Scandals An Analytical Framework

Scandals may seem to be unique events, and thus not comparable to each other. But closer analysis shows that scandals raise basic questions of power and legitimacy, and can play a role in clarifying the normative bases of mass-elite interaction and political rule in society. Scandals are a form of conflict, first visible in their present form in the bourgeois state; their origins and course of development depend upon both the normative commitments made by public figures and the consciousness and perceptions of the population at large. Bourdieu's theory of "delegation" is particularly useful for illuminating the dynamics of scandal, and their implications for political legitimacy.