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The Polls : The Public's Response to the Clinton Scandals, Part 1: Inconsistent Theories, Contradictory Evidence
Author(s) -
Renshon Stanley A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2002.tb00020.x
Subject(s) - impeachment , political science , ambivalence , law , administration (probate law) , law and economics , sociology , politics , social psychology , psychology
The public's response to the Clinton administration's many scandals and the president's impeachment is both puzzling and contradictory. They supported the president, but not his behavior; they wanted him severely reprimanded, but not punished; and they wanted him to remain in office, but were happy to see him leave. In this, the first article of a two‐part series, I explore the many theories put forward to explain these ambivalent public responses and the contradictory evidence put forward to support them.