Political scandal is a complex phenomenon involving public disclosure of alleged misbehavior by politicians. It is often characterized by allegations of corrupt behavior or of disregard for ethical standards, but such accusations can also target personal or moral characteristics and hurt significant others in the political community. In addition, some alleged transgressions are not necessarily ethical violations of values or norms, and the perception that an incident is a scandal may differ from one country to another because of different political systems and media traditions.

Scandal research has been conducted in many disciplines, including communication studies, political science, psychology, and sociology. However, the literature lacks a clear overview of overall findings and a common theory about the causes and effects of political scandals. This article presents an analysis of the existing literature and a set of recommendations for future research.

Ultimately, the authors show that a key driver of political scandal is the level of polarization in a political system, which provides incentives for politicians to expose bad behavior by members of the opposing party or even to suggest such misbehavior, even on flimsy evidence. As a consequence, political polarization promotes a more adversarial political climate, encourages politicians to engage in dishonest behavior, and devalues the quality of political discourse.

Moreover, the authors provide new insight into what makes an action or situation a scandal by showing that it is not just a question of whether bad behavior has occurred, but also how much it harms important political interests, the extent to which it undermines the reputation of politicians, and the degree to which it entails betrayal of significant others in the political community.