On April 6, 2019, “Saturday Night Live” aired a sketch poking fun at former Vice President Joe Biden. The sketch, which featured actor Jason Sudeikis as the 2020 presidential hopeful going through sensitivity training, was a far cry from SNL’s heavy support for his potential candidacy in 2016. So, what changed?

Over the past several weeks, social media has shone a spotlight on Biden’s tendency to touch, hug, caress and even kiss women without their permission. Democratic Senator – and likely presidential contender – Michael Bennet has publicly called Biden out, telling CNN that the country is experiencing an important time for women to be heard.

Biden’s controversy is but the most recent in a long line of public figures being held accountable – or almost accountable – for their actions. In 2016, audio recordings from 2005 exposed lewd comments made by President Donald Trump (who was at that time a presidential candidate). Despite outcry from the media and thousands of voters, President Trump did not face any long-term consequences for these comments.

Things have been changing, however. According to The Economist, since 2016, nine members of Congress facing credible sexual misconduct charges have either resigned or failed to run for re-election, two White House officials have been accused of spousal abuse and three congressional candidates failed to win their elections due to controversies. Again, one can ask: what changed?

“I don’t see too much difference from what we’ve seen in the past,” said Dr. Elizabeth Paddock, a political science professor at Drury. “There is a situation right now where there is more visibility of these kinds of issues and people are perhaps being held to be more accountable for this kind of behavior, but I certainly wouldn’t say that everyone is being held to the same level of accountability as everyone else.”

Paddock, who routinely teaches a class on women and politics, attributes the rise of public outcry to the prevalence of social media in our lives.

“We’re a much more open society now than we’ve ever been,” said Paddock. “With social media and a 24/7 news cycle… we have so many more options to hear about stuff. I’m not sure if there is more accountability, just more visibility.”

According to Paddock, accountability occurs when public figures are forced to reckon with the consequences of their actions. For politicians, these consequences can mean losing re-election, being ousted from office mid-term or simply taking a dip in approval ratings. To Paddock, visibility is a stepping-stone to achieving equal levels of accountability.

Visibility of an issue, such as sexual misconduct, in politics can occur in a variety of ways, from social media trends like #MeToo to large-scale news coverage. In Paddock’s eyes, the issue of misconduct among elected officials and political workers is not a rising trend; rather, it is the public’s awareness of these issues that has grown.

“Something has been uncovered in our culture, and that has… made it seem as though there is a mainstream to this kind of behavior. With certain public officials boasting about their getting away with certain behavior, that seems to send a message that it’s okay to harass or assault,” stated Paddock.

As public awareness of these issues grows, the pressure is on for politicians to be on their best behavior – especially in the early stages of a presidential race. Whether or not high level officials face consequences for their actions remains to be seen. Until then, one can only ask who the next guest impressionist will be on “Saturday Night Live.”

Written by Forest Swisher.