Politicians Behaving Badly

History tells us that elected leaders tainted by scandal often pay a political price for their questionable behavior. Some prior research suggests that, on average, the impact of economic scandal (e.g., misuse of public funds) is more damaging than that of sexual misbehavior (e.g., extramarital affairs). But we are currently in an era in which allegations of sexual misbehavior have taken center stage - and the focus today is less on issues of morality than on allegations of sexual harassment and assault broadly defined. Especially since 2016, such allegations have engulfed a large and growing number of political figures. Many were forced to resign their positions, while others chose to end their campaigns for election or re-election. With the rise of the #MeToo movement and related grassroots efforts to address the problem of sexual harassment, the issue seems likely to play an important role in the 2020 elections and beyond. This book employs data from an internet-based survey (based on a national sample of roughly 1300 registered voters) to examine citizens' attitudes about sexual harassment, and the extent to which those attitudes shape their voting preferences. With an innovative experimental design, the authors assess whether those attitudes and preferences vary with the target candidate's partisan affiliation (Republican or Democrat); gender (male or female); and response to the allegations (denial, apology, or with some sort of counterframe as defined in the book). Appropriate for students, scholars, and general readers alike, this book offers a timely analysis of an important political issue.

This book examines citizens' attitudes about sexual harassment in the #MeToo era, seeking to determine how much these attitudes may have changed over the past few years. Using an innovative experimental research design, the authors look at how people react to allegations of harassment made against a fictional member of Congress. They consider whether those reactions vary with the offender's party affiliation, gender, and response to the allegations. Appropriate for students, scholars, and general readers alike, this book offers a timely analysis of an important political issue.

What is the relevance of morality today' Eden Collinsworth enlists the famous, the infamous, and the heretofore unheard-of to unravel how we make moral choices in an increasingly complex-and ethically flexible-age. To call these unsettling times is an understatement: our political leaders are less and less respectable; in the realm of business, cheating, lying, and stealing are hazily defined; and in daily life, rapidly changing technology offers permission to act in ways inconceivable without it. Yet somehow, this hasn't quite led to a complete free-for-all-people still draw lines around what is acceptable and what is not. Collinsworth sets out to understand how and why. In her intrepid quest, she squares off with a prime minister, the editor of London's Financial Times, a holocaust survivor, a pop star, and a former commander of the U.S. Air Force to grapple with the impracticality of applying morals to foreign policy; precisely when morality gets lost in the making of money; what happens to morality without free will; whether "immoral" women are just those having a better time; why celebrities have become the new moral standard-bearers; and if testosterone is morality's enemy or its hero.

This book tackles the challenging issues of leadership and followership in a world of 'crazy'. Why do we elect totally unsuitable leaders? Why do people encourage and enable their appalling behaviour? Is democracy obsolete? But a new generation is saying 'enough', while many countries are putting people and the environment ahead of profits.

What is the relevance of morality today? Eden Collinsworth enlists the famous, the infamous, and the heretofore unheard-of to unravel how we make moral choices in an increasingly complex—and ethically flexible—age. To call these unsettling times is an understatement: our political leaders are less and less respectable; in the realm of business, cheating, lying, and stealing are hazily defined; and in daily life, rapidly changing technology offers permission to act in ways inconceivable without it. Yet somehow, this hasn’t quite led to a complete free-for-all—people still draw lines around what is acceptable and what is not. Collinsworth sets out to understand how and why. In her intrepid quest, she squares off with a prime minister, the editor of London’s Financial Times, a holocaust survivor, a pop star, and a former commander of the U.S. Air Force to grapple with the impracticality of applying morals to foreign policy; precisely when morality gets lost in the making of money; what happens to morality without free will; whether “immoral” women are just those having a better time; why celebrities have become the new moral standard-bearers; and if testosterone is morality’s enemy or its hero.

Leader of the opposition, Sir Alex Bolton, is being blackmailed. After dancer Bella takes pictures of him with a spy camera, people in high places plan to make sure that nothing prevents Sir Alex from becoming Britain's next prime minister. While Bella is shacked up with her new lover Martin, her bank robber ex-boyfriend Joey shows up at their doorstep after getting an early release from prison. A stash of 3 million pounds is hidden somewhere, and the fellow bank robbers he ratted on are after him and the money. After Chief Inspector Preston and Detective Sergeant Johnson are called to investigate, bodies start to pile up at an alarming rate, and they must navigate the investigation while under pressure to avoid a PR nightmare.

Watergate. Billygate. Iran-Contra. Teapot Dome. Monica Lewinsky.American history is marked by era-defining misdeeds, indiscretions, and the kind of tabloid-ready scandals that politicians seem to do better than anyone else. Now, for the first time, one volume brings together 300 years of political wrongdoing in an illustrated history of politicians gone wild—proving that today’s scoundrels aren’t the first, worst, and surely won’t be the last…. From high crimes to misdemeanors to moments of licentiousness and larceny, this unique compendium captures in complete, colorful detail the foibles, failings, peccadilloes, dirty tricks, and astounding blunders committed by politicians behaving badly. Amid stories of brawlers, plagiarists, sexual predators, tax evaders, and the temporarily insane, this almanac tells all about: •The only (so far!) president to be arrested while in office: Ulysses S. Grant, who was allegedly issued a ticket for racing his horse and buggy through the streets of Washington, D.C. •The former New Jersey state senator David J. Friedland, who disappeared during a scuba diving accident in 1985. It turns out he staged the accident and served nine years in prison after being captured in the Maldives. •Tape-recorded instructions from highbrow president Franklin Delano Roosevelt on how his staff should carry out some low-down political tricks •The bizarre story of U.S. congressman Robert Potter, who castrated two men he suspected of having affairs with his wife. Potter won election to the state house while in jail—but was kicked out for cheating at cards. •Texas congressman Henry Barbosa Gonzalez: he was charged with assault in 1986 after he shoved and hit a man who called him a communist. Gonzalez was seventy years old at the time. At once shocking and hilariously funny, here’s a book that exposes the history of American politics, warts and all—and makes for hours of jaw-dropping, fascinating, illuminating reading.

This book explains why the role of corruption varies greatly between public services, between people, between national systems of governance, and between measures of corruption. More than 1.8 billion people pay the price of bad government each year, by sending a bribe to a public official. In developing countries, corruption affects social services, such as health care and education, and law enforcement institutions, such as the police. When public officials do not act as bureaucrats delivering services by the book, people can try to get them by hook or by crook. The book’s analysis draws on unique evidence: a data base of sample surveys of 175,000 people in 125 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North and South America. The authors avoid one-size-fits-all proposals for reform and instead provide measures that can be applied to particular public services to reduce or eliminate opportunities for corruption.