Image and style can override corruption and policy failure in public esteem

Evidence

Strangest of all is how such a President could leave office riding so high on the wave of public affection, even though more than a dozen senior members of his administration had either been accused or been found guilty of serious infringement of legal procedures and blatant disregard for ethical principles. The triumph of aesthetics over ethics could not be plainer. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 2055

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The compression of ‘a triumph of aesthetics over ethics’ as a cultural-diagnostic claim is dense: it reads Reagan’s popularity as evidence of a postmodern inversion of values, not mere voter gullibility.
• XREF: connects to: Politicians conceal their true views behind skillfully managed public images — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3336; Recognition politics can substitute for and thereby mask material redistribution — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 186; Visual media presentation changes political persuasion outcomes. (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Politicians conceal their true views behind skillfully managed public images #expands (0.85) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3336
• Visual media presentation changes political persuasion outcomes. #corroborates (0.80)
• Recognition politics can substitute for and thereby mask material redistribution #corroborates (0.75) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 186