Description

Political Scandals—Who, What, When, Where, and Why!

[WLOs: 5, 6] [CLO: 5]

Purpose: The primary goal of this weekly summative assignment is to probe and scrutinize a major political scandal.

Prepare:website:
25 Biggest Political Scandals In History (Links to an external site.).

Reflect: As you have learned over the last few
weeks, politics is often about power. In their efforts to obtain and
maintain power, some politicians violate widely held ethical and moral
limits and even laws. Political scandals can abruptly end promising
political careers, and, sometimes, they are used to gain electoral and
political advantages over opponents. These violations are often revealed
to the public by the news media. Understanding how scandals affect
politics and political actors, and the role the media plays in unveiling
these scandals, contributes to a better understanding of how political
behavior impacts other public and private arenas.

Write: In your essay of at least three pages,
research one major scandal involving politicians (Watergate, Bill
Clinton, Iran-Contra Affair, Silvio Berlusconi, etc.), and address the
following:

  • Describe how the media portrayed the politicians involved (1 page).
  • Discuss the outcome of the scandal (1 page).
    • Did individuals gain greater political power and exposure? Did they
      resign from office or were their political careers cut short due to the
      scandal?
  • Explain what effect, if any, the scandal had on the political environment and the media and why (1 page).

The Political Scandals—Who, What, When, Where, and Why! paper