Scandals in past and contemporary politics / edited by John Garrard & James L. Newell.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Garrard, John.

Newell, James.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scandals.

Political corruption.

Physical Description:

xii, 242 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester, UK ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 2006.

Summary:

There have been many books on individual 'affairs' and causes celebres of various kinds, but considerably fewer on the social and historical significance of political scandal in general. Yet, the phenomenon has recently emerged as a key new area of study. This is partly because of the exposure of political corruption and the growth of corruption scandals in advanced democracies since the 1980s, which have made clear that scandals are a typical phenomenon of the modern age.

This book, edited by a historian and a political scientist, combines the two disciplines to examine the constant and changing features of political scandal over the past three centuries. It draws on work by a distinguished international team of scholars to explore the phenomenon both in general terms and as evidenced in Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Russia, the USA and Australia. It also offers a fascinating 'insider's account' of the role of the press in the reporting - and indeed manufacture - of some of the most memorable scandals of recent years. Though their content has changed greatly over time, the assumption is that scandals also have certain enduring features in terms of their character, the conditions under which they occur, their evolution and effects. They also have much to tell us about the societies in which they occur.

Primarily directed at undergraduate and postgraduate students, the book will be useful for academics with an interest in corruption and scandal. It will also be of interest to anyone concerned about an increasingly conspicuous feature of modern liberal democratic societies.

Contents:

I Theoretical and comparative perspectives 11

1 Scandals: an overview / John Garrard 13

2 Understanding the wave of scandal in contemporary Western Europe / Veronique Pujas 30

3 Political scandals and political development in the United States / Robert Williams 46

II What scandals are and how they unfold 59

4 A journalist looks at political scandal / Chris Moncrieff 61

5 'Keeping the bastards honest': Australia and the investigation of political scandal / Jenny Fleming 77

6 Payments for no political response? Political corruption and tribunals of inquiry in Ireland, 1991-2003 / Gary Murphy 91

7 Sex, lies and audiotapes: the Watergate and Monica Lewinsky scandals in American politics / Eric M. Uslaner 106

III Why scandals emerge and what they indicate 121

8 Political scandals and crisis management in Greece, 1821-2001 / Kleomenis S. Koutsoukis 123

9 Scandal in a scandalous age: the impeachment and trial of Warren Hastings, 1788-95 / Robin Theobald 137

10 Diamonds and videotape: political scandals and the presidents of the Fifth French Republic / Helene Bilger-Street, Marion Demoissier 151

11 Contaminated blood and political scandal in Ireland / Anne-Maree Farrell 163

IV The results and functions of scandals 177

12 The role of scandals in post-Communist Russia / Julia Wishnevsky 179

13 How far and why do corruption scandals cost votes? / Fernando Jimenez, Miguel Cainzos 194

14 How scandals affect the values and policies of decision makers / Jeroen Maesschalck 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0719065518

OCLC:

61425440

Publisher Number:

9780719065514 (hbk.)