Every scandal is unique if certain traits persist: The Dittli case

Le Temps: You have been studying political, literary and even financial scandals for more than thirty years. From a scientific point of view, what are the operating logics highlighted by the affair surrounding the Vaud State Councilor Valérie Dittli?

Hervé Rayner: What has been called the “Dittli affair” fulfills the same principles of action as various scandals before it. Originally, what makes possible the bursting of any business, they are variations of the playability of the denunciation. That is to say that certain actors, connoisseurs beforehand of the scandalous facts, suddenly consider it “playable” to denounce them. In this specific case, the “scandalous” facts were surely known by a small number of individuals for a long time, but they only recently decided to intervene. In my research, I talk about oscillations in their perceptions of the possible: they convince themselves that it is appropriate to make scandalous facts public. The “publicization” of the scandal can come from a media, before interesting the whole media sphere. Then follows a runaway like the one we find here, but which is similar to the operation of the Maudet affair or, more formerly, to the scandal of the files.

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What exactly do you mean by “runaway”?

I’m talking here about a politico-media frenzy around the scandal, which works through positive feedback loops. Different actors, coming from distinct social fields, such as politics, the media or the judiciary, mobilized, accused or counter-accused, thus contributing to the development of the scandal. In the Dittli case, we can take as an example the secondary debates on the authenticity of her title of doctor of law. Initially, this information does not have a great journalistic interest, but the excitement of the scandal gives it one, it becomes a scoop. The scandal comes from a context that it helps to recast: the media escalation is driven by games of mirrors. We can imagine that in the event of ruptures of collusion between the parties which support Valérie Dittli, thus involving the delegitimization of this one, the scandal continues its runaway. In addition, the Dittli affair brings together the ingredients of a scandal “that works”. The fact that she is a woman, that she manages the Finance Department… Add to that the symbolic significance of her studies in law and the canton of Zug, you get enough to feed this case.

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So the structure of a scandal would be known from the start?

One part only. Studies show that scandal works according to a specular logic, feeding itself on its elements. But if certain features are repeated, each scandal is of course a particular case. Its trajectory is never previously defined. There is always a contingent part, which also participates in this excitement. Take the Watergate affair, the beginnings of which took place in June 1972 with the arrest of the burglars at the headquarters of the Democratic Party. Due to the contingency effect, the scandal only really broke out in the spring of 1973.

Some have the impression that political scandals have multiplied in Switzerland in recent years. What do you think?

It depends on how one defines the term “scandal”. It is necessary to differentiate it from “scandalous facts”. The latter refer only to actual or ineffective transgressions (the denunciation may be unfounded) of laws or norms, such as corrupt practices or cases of sexual harassment. In this specific case, I will not allow myself to comment on a potential increase, only a small part of the transgressions being identified. On the other hand, the number of “scandals”, that is to say mobilizations around the denunciation of scandalous facts, has been increasing in our country for the past twenty years, even if this number remains lower than elsewhere. . This increase is multi-causal, but it is possible to identify certain elements.

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Which ones exactly?

First, the breakthrough of the SVP in the 1990s led to a certain political instability, with the entry of an economic logic into public affairs. Zurich industrialists will participate in an overhaul of the political game, which will become more competitive and more controversial. The tone of the exchanges will therefore change drastically. Then, the overhaul of the journalistic system, with a relative emancipation of the political field, allowed the scandals to take a new turn. The affiliation of newspapers to parties has diminished, and the phenomenon of concentration of press titles has increased. There too, the entry of an economic and commercial logic contributes to this multiplication of scandals. Moreover, from a moral point of view, the tone is no longer the same. Society and the media allow themselves other treatments, generally more incisive than a few years ago. Take the interviews of federal advisers conducted in the 1950s. The tone was reverent in the extreme, whereas today our political representatives are constantly challenged.

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In international comparison, is Switzerland a fertile land of scandals?

If we compare with Germany, Italy or even France, the Swiss scandals remain not very visible on a national scale, being limited to a canton or a given region. One of the hypotheses concerns the scarcity of multisectoral mobilizations, a necessary condition for their emergence, which are limited by federalism. The cantonalization of political life and Swiss society tends to limit the scope of a scandal.