Scandals in the White House: An Organizational Explanation*

The Watergate scandal involving the president's personal staff brought forth numerous analyses and explanations. Most analyses located the cause of the scandal in the psychology of Richard Nixon, the breakdown of institutional arrangements, or a societal tolerance for corruption. The author, however, argues that Watergate was but one of many staff incidents that undermined presidential power and that the persistence of such phenomena requires a sociological explanation. The author argues that deviant staff behaviors are a direct consequence of the organizational structure of personal staffs, and that such behaviors derive paradoxically from the characteristics that make staffs useful to chief executives. The argument is elaborated through an analysis of publicized scandals and disruptive staff practices of presidential staffs since Franklin Roosevelt's administration.     

Some Notes on Local Level Political Activism

Abstract

The large number of studies of the impact of Watergate have generally ignored its electoral repercussions. This paper helps to fill this void by reporting the results of a statewide panel study which investigated the effects of attitudes toward Watergate on shifts in political party identification between 1970 and 1974. We found a considerable amount of change in the partisan identifications of the panel members during the four years; however, while both parties suffered an overall loss of support to the “Independents,” the Republicans did lose considerably more support than did the Democrats. More importantly, the greater Republican losses were found to be significantly related to attitudes toward Watergate. It therefore appears that Watergate contributed to the shrinking proportion of Republicans within our panel. While the Republican losses were not of great magnitude, they appear sufficiently large to have had an effect on recent elections.     

Television Exposure and Attitude Change: The Impact of Political Interest

A number of media effects studies have speculated that politicallyuninvolved individuals are susceptible to attitudinal or behavioralchange as a result of media exposure. This possibility is investigatedby testing a causal model of change in attitude toward PresidentNixon during the Watergate period (1972–1974). The initialanalysis suggested that political interest was a source of interactionin the model; it was thus treated as a specifying variable bytesting separate models for high and low interest respondents.Though exposure to Watergate-related television had no discernibleimpact on attitude toward Nixon for high interest individuals,it was the only significant predictor of 1974 Nixon attitudefor persons with low political interest.     

Polling on Watergate: The Battle for Public Opinion

How do polls become part of the political process through whichdecisions are made and issues resolved? Case studies of thedevelopment and outcome of political controversies, like Watergate,can go a long way toward clarification of the direct and indirectimpacts of the polls.     

Transnational Corruption in Weapons Procurement in East Asia: A Case Analysis

Abstract

This case study analyzes the Lafayette scandal, which alleges that up to US$760 million in bribes and kickbacks was split among French, Chinese, and Taiwanese officials for the 1992 sale of French frigates to Taiwan. The case was unique in its complexity, intrigue, and repercussions. This analysis focuses on the structural and institutional deficiencies in Taiwan and France that intersected to create opportunities for massive corruption. It also traces how Taiwan and France implemented profound preventive reforms in the aftermath of the scandal. This landmark scandal highlights the need for further global efforts to establish legal frameworks and judicial protocols to tackle corrupt practices that transcend national borders.     

SENSATIONALISM, NEWSPAPER PROFITS AND THE MARGINAL VALUE OF WATERGATE

Newspaper publishers supposedly profit some sensational events. Focusing on the two different products sold by publishers, newspapers and advertising space, this paper shows why sensational events do not necessarily increase publishers' wealth. It also uses financial market analysis to examine the wealth effects of one sensational event, Watergate, on a portfolio of newspaper stocks and on the Washington Post in particular. No significant effects are found.     

Psychosocial Anatomy of the Catholic Sexual Abuse Scandal

As the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church captured headlines throughout 2002 and into 2003, many within the Church and outside of it tried to understand how it all had happened. Perhaps understandably, there was a temptation to keep it simple, to find one or two identifiable, easily grasped causes for the crisis. Despite the allure of simple answers, however, it must be recognized that the root causes of the crisis are embedded in an intricate matrix of power relationships, traditions, and teachings that, in combination, rendered the abuse scandal almost inevitable. Further, every constituency within the Church–bishops, abusing priests, rank-and-file priests, and the laity, as well as the Vatican and Pope John Paul II–share varying degrees of accountability for tolerating decades, if not centuries, of sexual abuse of the Church's young. This article introduces a comprehensive view of the underpinnings of the scandal.     

Professional perpetrators: sex offenders who use their employment to target and sexually abuse the children with whom they work

Professionals who use their work as a cover for targeting and sexually abusing children have become the focus of public, media and legislative concerns in recent years. In the past 15 years, scandal after scandal has led to review investigations and public inquiries. These in turn have led to legislative changes to help improve childcare practices and prevent perpetrators from gaining access to children through institutions and organizations. This paper explores the literature and research studies which examine institutional abuse and professional perpetrators. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wrangling Rumors of Corruption: Institutional Neutralization of the Jerry Sandusky Scandal at Penn State University

The Jerry Sandusky scandal erupted nationally in November 2011, dragging with it accusations of child molestation, manipulation, perjury, and ultimately a blatant disregard for the suffering of 10 young victims. This article examines how senior university officials covered up the scandal and inevitably allowed Sandusky to continue molesting children for over 15 years. University officials broke the law by failing to report the abuses, and later when they lied to the investigating grand jury assigned to the case. Using Sykes and Matza’s techniques of neutralization, we explain how university officials downplayed these victimizations to preserve the reputation of Penn State.     

Scandal as norm entrepreneurship strategy: Corruption and the French investigating magistrates

The sociological and legal scholarship on norm entrepreneurship focuses almost exclusively on the creation and promotion of new norms. Much of norm entrepreneurship is, however, oriented towards the solidification of existing yet under-enforced norms. Such entrepreneurship, which legal officials as well as social and political actors can undertake, often involves creating scandals: publicizing the real or alleged transgressions of high status actors. Scandals entail the exercise of popular justice and their logic is collectivistic. These two characteristics underlie the strategic recourse to scandal that often combines norm entrepreneurship and status-enhancement. This article discusses the use of scandal by the French investigating magistrates in the 1990s. Exploiting the declining prestige of the political elite, the low status French investigating magistrates targeted high status political actors and publicized their corruption investigations. The use of scandal circumvented the political pressures in the judicial process and the niceties of criminal procedure, discredited the political elite as a whole, and forced the latter to adopt various anti-corruption measures. Traditionally subordinate to the executive, the French judiciary mobilized around the corruption scandals against the political elite and, for the first time since the Revolution, acquired relative independence and enhanced status.     

A theory of scandal: Victorians, homosexuality, and the fall of Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde is considered to be the iconic victim of 19th-century English puritanism. Yet the Victorian authorities rarely and only reluctantly enforced homosexuality laws. Moreover, Wilde's sexual predilections had long been common knowledge in London before his trial without affecting the dramatist's wide popularity. Focusing on the seemingly inconsistent Victorian attitudes toward homosexuality and the dynamics of the Oscar Wilde affair, this article develops a general theory of scandal as the disruptive publicity of transgression. The study of scandal reveals the effects of publicity on norm enforcement and throws into full relief the dramaturgical nature of the public sphere and norm work in society.     

Children and Watergate: Some Neglected Considerations

Abstract

Existing theories of political socialization and discussions of the impact of Watergate on children which have been based upon them have over-emphasized affective orientations and have paid comparatively little attention to political cognition. Data are presented which suggest that this has resulted in not only incomplete theories of Watergate's influence on youth but has perpetuated a limited theoretical approach to political socialization. The approach has been consistent with the continuation of educational practices which defeat their own purpose.     

Book Review

Book reviews in this article. Forgotten children: the secret abuse scandal in children's homes by Christian Wolmar     

‘People with learning disabilities need a commissioner and a legal charter of rights’ – no they do not!

Since the UK Winterbourne View scandal, there have been a number of reports and responses recommending what should be done to ensure a similar scandal does not happen again. Two ideas have emerged which suggest that people with learning disabilities need a legal charter of rights and a commissioner to make a difference in their lives. This article, however, argues that although it is right that issues affecting people with learning disabilities are at the heart of discussion and debate, this does not take into account the complex, flexible and multiple identities of people with learning disabilities, and their knowledge, experiences and skills. This would be more beneficial in understanding the lives of people with the label of learning disabilities than a commissioner or a charter.     

Rupture Resistance: An Archaeology of Pedophilia Crisis Communication

The national attention brought to high-profile sex crimes such as the Penn State scandal of 2011 and the Catholic Church scandal of 2002 has elevated public awareness of what can be appropriately referred to as pedophilia. Perceived as a public health threat, pedophilia has become a priority news item for its lascivious and predatory characteristics that instill fear within a widespread audience. This article conveys three ideas essential to pedophilia crisis communication. First, a brief introduction of pedophilia is offered as a social construct and catalyst for moral panic within organizations and their communities. Second, a review of modern and postmodern crisis frameworks is offered to examine an organizational approach to pedophilia and its Foucauldian conception as a rupturing, discursive formation. Third, a call for organizations to embrace ruptures in their pedophilia crisis response is advanced to align their activities with the prevailing historical moment rather than within metaphysical traditions.     

The Alternative Public Sphere in China: a Cultural Sociology of the 2008 Tainted Baby Milk Scandal

Qualitative Sociology - This article studies critical news reports about the 2008 Chinese tainted baby milk scandal, which the World Health Organization identified as one of the largest food safety...     

Clean diesel and dirty scandal: The echo of Volkswagen’s dieselgate in an intra-industry setting

In 2015 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed that German car manufacturer Volkswagen had illegally installed software to produce fake NOx-emissions results. This study aims to analyze how the German news media framed VW’s role. Furthermore, since the scandal shifted from a single company to an industry-wide crisis, this contribution also aims to establish whether the German news media reframed the crisis as an industry-wide phenomenon in 2018. The results show that the Dieselgate was reframed in 2018 as an industry-wide scandal where the conflict, morality, and attribution of responsibility frame were most dominant. We argue that the first wrongdoer in an industry creates a crisis history, which potentially becomes an intensifying factor for competitors who are confronted with similar crises in a later stage. Findings extend the theoretical premise of an organizational reputation as postulated in SCCT, as the organizational reputation is most likely influenced by changing industry-wide perceptions as well.     

Reading Scandal: Civic Gothic as Genre

This article proposes that recent media accounts of the "priest pedophile" employ a conventional Gothic mode as frame. The binary split into sentimentalized victims and demonized adults stabilizes a narrative that verges toward incoherency for reasons of genre form, readerly investment, and factual inaccessibility. In addition, because of a bias built-in, as it were, to all genre narrative, the Gothic frame silently consolidates political or cultural conclusions that are sometimes far removed from the sexual drama supposedly under investigation. Such genre "flattening" undergirds most media forms in commodity exchange culture; it is not specific to scandal or unique to this cycle of priests and children. Nonetheless, the rubric of scandal-and the priest-child trope in particular-displays the effects of genre-manipulation in a concentrated form. Thus, in "reading scandal," more important than the predictable division of heroes and villains, monsters and innocents, are the mechanics of representation by which a public ceremony of outrage and shame positions itself as a neutral agent of civic work while erasing the implications of this positioning.     

THE THRESHOLD OF PUBLIC ATTENTION

The analysis reviews time series data for the period 1945 to1980 on media coverage and corresponding public attention toa set of ten political issues including poverty, racial problems,Watergate, and Vietnam. The study focuses on the early stagesof public awareness and the need for a "critical mass" or thresholdto move a matter from the status of private concern to a public,political issue. The pattern of evolving public awareness variesdramatically for different types of issues. In some cases, thepublic appears to have a much steeper "response function" inreacting to real-world cues than the media; in other cases,the media seem to be more responsive. Modeling the growth ofattention to public issues with the logistic curve met withmodest success. The article concludes with a call for much closercoordination between agenda-setting research and the study ofpolitical cognition.