Sex Scandals in American Politics

Alison Dagnes is Associate Professor of Political Science at Shippensburg University, USA. After being a producer at C-SPAN in Washington, she moved to academia and now teaches courses on American government and politics. Her research interests focus on American political behavior and ideology in modern American politics. She is the author of Politics on Demand: The Effects of 24-Hour News on American Politics (Praeger, 2010)

"Rarely do sex scandals receive careful attention and consideration from academics.  Rarer still does a volume as comprehensive as this come along.  The authors provide a systematic, exhaustive, and multi-disciplinary approach in an area begging for empirical analysis.  Aside from tackling the obvious questions of why politicians engage in such risky behavior, this book forces us to ask deeper questions about the electorate and their fickle relationship with elected officials." - David Wiltse, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Briar Cliff University.

• 1. Introduction; Alison Dagnes; 2. Game Changer: The Clinton Scandal and American Sexuality Cynthia Drenovsky; 3. The Psychology of Risky Sexual Behavior: Why Politicians Expose Themselves; James D. Griffith; 4. A Framework for Understanding: Sex Scandals in Comparison Mark Sachleben; 5. The Politics, Geography and Constituencies of Political Sex Scandals Alison Dagnes and Janet Smith; 6. Men, Mistresses, and Media Framing: Examining Political Sex Scandals Carrie Sipes; 7. Love Means Sometimes Having to Say You're Sorry Richard Knight; 8. It May Be Wrong, But it's Not a Crime: The negligible legal consequences for the amoral sexual activity of men in public office Stephanie Jirard; 9. Hedging the Bet: Constitutional Qualifications for National Public Office; Cynthia Botteron; Index.