Introduction

Over the years, political scandals have been rampant all over the world. Politicians, government officials, and other high ranking personalities find themselves in the turmoil of corruption, illegality, and other unethical practices. It puts them in the limelight with the media putting significant focus on them. Sometimes they participate in the said scandals, but misinterpretation of issues can also work against them. In the United States, the scandals have hit from the highest office in Capitol Hill to the juniors. There have been numerous scandals, but the main ones include the Watergate Scandal and the one that involved Bill Clinton when he was president. The former led to the resignation of then President Richard Nixon, the only one in that position to ever resign from office (Bellush 111). The latter scandal involved moral decadence of the president who was accused of having an affair with a White House employee. The ramifications of political scandals are usually far reaching, not only to the disgraced officials but also to the people around them and the state at large.

Ramifications of the Scandals

The scandals come in different forms, and their ramifications thus differ from scandal to scandal. A corruption scandal usually sees people dragged into the courts of law to answer charges of corruption. It is emotionally torturing for the person involved, as well as his or her family and the people they represent. The citation of the scandal comes concerning them all, and their names get tainted.

The family of Bill Clinton in his Lewinsky scandal was left traumatized and confused. The scandals are a breaker of family love. Someone like Hilary must have gone through the worst time in White House when her husband was swimming in the murky waters of this scandal (Busby 23). However, the families usually have little or no power to control the things heading north concerning the scandals. All they can do is sit back and suffer the embarrassment of one of their own taking news headlines for the wrong reasons.

The constituents of a suspended politician or representatives lose their representation. For instance, in 2015, the state Senator of Connecticut Ernie Newton was sentenced to six months in prison for illegal campaign practices (Owens 1). This is a loss for the people of the area before special elections are held, to fill in the gap left by the incumbents. This is some sort of suppression of representative democracy for the constituents.

The Americans always loathe the actions of Bill Clinton with regard to the harm it did to the presidency. This is a respected institution among the Americans, and the holder of the office must remain true to the demands of the office. However, Bill Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky ruined this and an institution globally respected lost some of its respect (Busby 18). This was a bad light painting and an embarrassment for the people of the United States.

High ranking individuals have been convicted of serious crimes related to corruption and served jail terms for the same. The careers of politicians have been brought to a screeching halt due to scandals related to corruption. State Senator Leland Yee of California was in 2014 charged with bribery, public corruption and gun trafficking (Richman et al.). These are damaging reports that can never allow one to survive politically.

One of the highest ranking consequences of political scandals was the one that resulted from Watergate. Something that had never happened in the United States happened at that time. The sitting president; Richard Nixon resigned from office (Bellush 111). The government of Nixon had tried to cover up their involvement in the break-in of Watergate, the Democratic National Committee headquarters. When they could not cover up anymore, and the truth surfaced, President Nixon was left with no choice but resign from office (Bellush 112). This is usually dubbed as the scandal that brought down Nixon.

Disgraced officials who are involved in political scandals find themselves losing popularity among supporters. Their command of support among the people declines significantly, and their influence is lost (Morin 1). This puts the careers of most politicians on the death bed. The negative view by the people about an individual ensures that their political appeal is lost, and it is way much difficult for them to win any political seat in future contests. They are cast into the political cold.

Ethical decadence among politicians is rarely a career killer for them. Just a small number of them quit the active political stage on the onset of such scandals. Those who opt out resign or retire from politics, whereas others keep vying with the blot on their careers. Surprisingly, a significant chunk of them win re-elections to the political seats. However, even in their wins, there is a show of drop in popularity. The winning margins of the politicians drop significantly (Morin 1).

Court proceedings are not the only hurdles to go past, but also psychological issues like trauma and stress. The person undergoing the process of legal battles to try and keep their names clean finds it rough at times. The thoughts of appearing in court to defend oneself of wrongdoing and the consequences that come with being found guilty of such offenses are stressing enough for anyone.

Before the Lewinsky scandal, Bill Clinton was well respected and had a great reputation. However, the reports of his sexual relationship with a White House intern for two years ruined his reputation as a person (Busby 17). This was a bad blot on the political career of a man who had undergone great challenges to rise to the highest office that American politics can land one into. Many Americans still remember this affair to date.

Outside the United States, one of the most notorious politicians and full of scandals is former Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. His sex scandals are off limits, and this tainted his great political career. Some attribute the fall of Berlusconi-owned AC Milan Football Club to the scandals that befell the tycoon. However, despite all these scandals, his political career remained unscathed, and he served as prime minister in four different governments (BBC). He is an example of rare happenings, where the disgraced public figure continues political dominance even with countless scandals.

Political careers can be ruined even before they officially kick off. A front runner for the Democrats nomination in 1988, Gary Hart, found out the truth in this. Before the elections were called, a woman was found leaving his home. The publications that followed from Republican inclined papers ensured he plunged back into his law career, even before he could vie for the presidency. He stood down from mainstream politics from there onwards, and concentrated purely on his profession (Garvin).

Apart from politicians, other public officials usually suffer the worst fate. In many cases, they lose their jobs and there is no correction about it. From the Watergate scandal, a number of officials in the Nixon administration lost their jobs as a result of the famous scandal. This is the ordeal that even other officials in the same line face. It is painful for their families because the source of livelihood is lost.

Who Suffers Most?

The families of the disgraced officials are in the first line of suffering. They suffer financially, emotionally and socially. It is a challenging situation when everyone looks at one and sees the wife, child or member of the “thief’s family” in a person. The families are given nowhere to hide. They get embarrassed in public and are associated with every form of scandal that one of them has done. It is a worse situation when the person is guilty of moral lapse scandals. The family is seen as morally decayed and without any moral ground to pass advice to people. It is, therefore, a difficult and traumatizing time for the families, and they suffer more than the represented constituents.

The constituents too in their right suffer. It happens when they lose representation after the conviction of their representatives. Either, no people want to elect to the office an unethical person, or someone who is corrupt. When it happens, they feel cheated upon for electing a person of low integrity. Again, the reason why one would feel families are more affected by these situations than constituents is because the rogue officials still get reelected after being cleared off the bad books. This means the constituents less likely care about the ramifications of political scandal. These are the first people to claim that good politicians are made through scandals.

Conclusion

Political scandals are not new to people. They have been there for as long as can be remembered. In some cases, their consequences have been grave. People have lost their leadership positions to these scandals, others have used the scandals of others to gain mileage, and the game of politics continues. In lots of political rhetoric, the opposing sides are quick to point out to the scandals of each other, in a bid to hurt the opponents’ popularity. In some cases, it has worked, in others it has not. Very few people would love to be embroiled in scandals unless they are seeking popularity.

It is a common saying among politicians that ‘any publicity is good publicity’ whether it is positive or negative. However, not many would enjoy the repercussions of falling into corruption scandals. In the recent past, the states of New York and that of Pennsylvania have seen the highest number of elected officials being convicted of crimes. It does not necessarily mean that an official or politician caught up in a scandal loses popularity. The nature of a scandal, usually ranging from sex to corruption and illegal practices claims determine the effect. Some scandals have brought about political polarization, whereas other have affected governance and democratic accountability. If one is not the offender, the likeliness of being embroiled in a political scandal are heartbreaking in all means.

Works Cited

BBC,. “The Many Trials Of Silvio Berlusconi Explained – BBC News”. BBC News. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 May 2016.

Bellush, Jewel. “Watergate: A Preliminary Bibliography”. National Civic Review 63.2 (1974): 110-114. Web.

Busby, Robert. Defending the American Presidency: Clinton and the Lewinsky Scandal. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001. Print.

Garvin, Glenn. “Who Blabbed About Gary Hart-Donna Rice Affair?”. miamiherald. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 May 2016.

Morin, Rich. “The Price That Politicians Pay For Scandals”. Pew Research Center. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 May 2016.

Owens, David. “Former State Sen. Ernie Newton Sentenced To Six Months In Jail”. courant.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 May 2016.

Richman, Josh et al. “State Sen. Leland Yee Indicted On Arms Trafficking, Corruption Charges”.Mercurynews.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 May 2016.

 
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