Political Scandal and American Pop Culture

“The second edition of Jim Twombly’s excellent Political Scandal and American Pop Culture: Sex, Power, and Cover Ups seeks to understand why some political scandals transcend normal politics to become an indelible feature of American culture. By avoiding a discussion of “ordinary corruption,” Twombly explores the cultural relevance of many headline-grabbing episodes, including Ralph Northam, Andrew Cuomo, George Santos, and Donald Trump. Political Scandal and American Pop Culture: Sex, Power, and Cover Ups is a useful, instructive, and entertaining introduction to an important and timely subject.” –J. Michael Martinez, Ass “The second edition of Jim Twombly’s excellent Political Scandal and American Pop Culture: Sex, Power, and Cover Ups seeks to understand why some political scandals transcend normal politics to become an indelible feature of American culture. Twombly explores the cultural relevance of many headline-grabbing episodes, including Ralph Northam, Andrew Cuomo, George Santos, and Donald Trump. A useful, instructive, and entertaining introduction to an important and timely subject.” — J. Michael Martinez, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies, Georgia Gwinnett College, USA “What could be timelier than a book on scandal and pop culture in contemporary politics? Twombly’s book traces scandals in pop culture from Nixon to Trump, foregrounding the way their potent mix threaten to undermine the very foundations of American democracy. Essential reading for our times!” — Susan Burgess, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Political Science, Ohio University When does a scandal enter our popular culture? This book provides a newer definition of political scandal and applies it in a way to remove “ordinary corruption” from the discussion. It then defines pop culture and examines how scandal and pop culture interact. Analyzing editorial cartoons, Broadway shows, music, movies, television, and more, Twombly asserts the positive and negative impacts of scandal as pop culture on our democratic politics. This new edition builds on the previous book with analysis of January 6th, George Santos, allegations of election fraud, and Rudy Giuliani. This book works well as a supplement in a course on American Government, in American Studies, and is aimed at a wide range of readers from college freshmen to more advanced scholars and political junkies. Jim Twombly is Professor Emeritus of American Politics at Elmira College, USA. He is the author of The Progression of the American Presidency: Individuals, Empire, and Change (Palgrave Macmillan 2013), as well as five other books, a number of journal articles, book reviews, and conference papers. Dr. Twombly is also a political analyst on WENY-TV in Elmira. istant Professor of Legal Studies, Georgia Gwinnett College, USA “What could be timelier than a book on scandal and pop culture in contemporary politics? Twombly’s book traces scandals in pop culture from Nixon to Trump, foregrounding the way their potent mix threaten to undermine the very foundations of American democracy. Essential reading for our times!” –Susan Burgess, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Political Science, Ohio University This book provides a newer definition of political scandal and applies it in a way to remove “ordinary corruption” from the discussion. It then defines pop culture and examines how scandal and pop culture interact. The discussion addresses the question: when does a scandal actually enter into our pop culture. The mechanisms or vehicles by which this occurs include editorial cartoons, Broadway shows, music, movies, television, and more. The first chapter lays out the two main definitions and gives a bit of historical background to the discussion that follows. This new edition builds on the previous book with analysis of January 6th, George Santos, allegations of election fraud, and Rudy Giuliani. This book works well as a supplement in a course on American Government, in American Studies, and is aimed at a wide range of readers from college freshmen to more advanced scholars and political junkies. Jim Twombly is Professor Emeritus of American Politics at Elmira College, USA. He is the author of The Progression of the American Presidency: Individuals, Empire, and Change (Palgrave Macmillan 2013), as well as five other books, a number of journal articles, book reviews, and conference papers. Dr. Twombly is also a political analyst on WENY-TV in Elmira.