Politicians Behaving Badly
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 offenders 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.
Paulina S. Cossette (PhD University of Florida) was most recently Assistant Professor of Political Science at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Her research interests include the United States Congress, political parties and polarization, and campaigns and elections. She served as American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow for 201415 and is currently writing a book on bipartisan collaboration in the United States House and Senate.
Stephen C. Craig (PhD Northwestern University) is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Graduate Program in Political Campaigning at the University of Florida. He is author of The Malevolent Leaders: Popular Discontent in America, editor or co-editor of five books including The Electoral Challenge: Theory Meets Practice, and has published numerous articles and book chapters dealing with attitude measurement, campaign effects, and various other aspects of contemporary public opinion and political behavior in the United States.
What explains voters willingness to reelect some politicians facing allegations of sexual harassment, while punishing others at the polls? In Politicians Behaving Badly, Cossette and Craig leverage compelling evidence from original survey data including a novel survey experiment to offer nuanced insights into this pressing question.
Tiffany D. Barnes, University of Kentucky
Timely, incisive, and creative, Politicians Behaving Badly is a welcome addition to the study of sex, power, and politics. Run, do not walk, to read and assign this book.
Jane Junn, University of Southern California
Cossette and Craig have put together a piece of research that places them on the ground floor of what is sure to be a growing body of inquiry. Sexual harassment has been front and center on the public stage recently. Yet, research has not had the time to catch up. This book does exactly that; it catches us up. Not only do they give us a peek into public opinion surrounding this issue, but by using experimental data, they give us a sense of the political consequences. This book will certainly become foundational to our understanding of the politics of sexual harassment.
Jason Gainous, Co-author of Tweeting to Power
Politicians Behaving Badly
Men, Women, and the Politics of Sexual Harassment
Paulina S. Cossette and Stephen C. Craig
First published 2020
by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cossette, Paulina S., author. | Craig, Stephen C., author.
Title: Politicians behaving badly : men, women, and the politics of sexual
harassment / Paulina S. Cossette and Stephen C. Craig.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019043163 (print) | LCCN 2019043164 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367435042 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367427993 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003003717 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sexual harassmentPolitical aspectsUnited States. |
Sex scandalsPolitical aspectsUnited States. | Sexual ethicsPolitical
aspectsUnited States. | Party affiliationUnited States. |
PoliticiansUnited StatesConduct of life.
Classification: LCC HD6060.5.U5 C67 2020 (print) |
LCC HD6060.5.U5 (ebook) | DDC 364.15/30973dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019043163
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019043164
ISBN: 978-0-367-43504-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-42799-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-00371-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
Visit the eResources: www.routledge.com/978036742993
For Travis and Collin; your love and kindness make the world a truly wonderful place.
Paulina S. Cossette
For Gordon Henderson, whose mentoring in the early stages of my graduate career shaped everything that came after; and Donald Campbell, who introduced me to the experimental approach that continues to influence my work (including this book) all these many years later.
Stephen C. Craig
Contents
Over the past few years, the American public has witnessed a virtual avalanche of stories detailing instances of sexual misconduct including harassment, assault, and various other forms of abuse allegedly committed by entertainment figures, media celebrities, corporate executives, political leaders, and even academics. images of predatory men, date rape drugs, and phrases like grab her by the p***y have become hauntingly familiar. Extensive coverage of these incidents in the press contributed to the explosive growth of the #MeToo movement, a grassroots campaign intended to both publicize and hold accountable the (mostly) men who have harassed and abused (mostly) women and gotten away with it because of the positions of power and influence they hold.
The phrase me too was coined in 2006 by Tarana Burke, a sexual assault survivor turned activist whose goal at the time was to help young women of color who had survived sexual abuse, assault and exploitation (Santiago and Criss 2017). It wasnt until October 2017, however, that these words of support became a political rallying cry sparked by a New York Times story that revealed what many Hollywood insiders had known for years: Blockbuster movie producer Harvey Weinstein (Shakespeare in Love, Pulp Fiction) enjoyed inviting young actresses and assistants up to his hotel room and coercing or forcing them to engage in sexual acts (Kantor and Twohey 2017). The women were told that if they cooperated, they would be rewarded with favorable film roles that could boost their careers; if not, they faced retaliation by Weinstein with the loss of work and their professional reputations. Ten days later, the Me Too hashtag emerged when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, If youve been sexually harassed or assaulted write me too as a reply to this tweet. The mantra quickly turned into a full-blown movement.
