AI or Accountability? An Experimental Study of Political Scandals, Crisis Response Strategies, and Political Trust in Denmark.

This thesis investigates how different types of political scandals and response strategies affect political trust in Denmark, with particular attention to the growing role of digital communication and artificial intelligence (AI) in political crisis management. Specifically, the project distinguishes between policy scandals and norm scandals. While policy scandals arise from the violation of formal rules and laws, norm scandals involve breaches of moral or social expectations. The project further examines two central response strategies: defensive (e.g., AI-based denial strategy/Liar’s Dividend) and more traditional accommodative responses (e.g., acknowledging mistakes and apologizing). The study also analyses emotional/affective responses (anger) as a mediating mechanism and party affiliation as a moderating factor.