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Fall guy

A fall guy is a colloquial term denoting a person who is deliberately positioned to shoulder blame or punishment for the misconduct, failure, or crime of others, functioning as a scapegoat to shield the actual perpetrators.^[1] The phrase emerged in American English slang around the late 19th century, with its earliest documented use in 1895, and gained traction in the early 20th century through associations with fixed matches in professional wrestling—where a participant is scripted to "take the fall" and lose—or stunt performers in early cinema who executed dangerous falls on behalf of actors.^[2] This etymology underscores a literal and figurative "fall" from grace imposed on the unwitting or coerced individual, often in criminal enterprises, corporate scandals, or political machinations where deflecting responsibility preserves power structures. While the term evokes vulnerability to manipulation, its invocation in public discourse frequently highlights systemic incentives for designating such figures, as evidenced in historical analyses of blame-shifting tactics that prioritize self-preservation over accountability.^[2]

Definition and Conceptual Foundations

Core Meaning and Etymology

A fall guy is a person who is unfairly blamed or punished for the misconduct or failure of others, often serving as a scapegoat in schemes where they absorb the legal or reputational consequences without primary culpability. This usage emphasizes deception, where the individual is typically unwitting or coerced into the role, as in criminal enterprises where one party "takes the fall" by facing arrest or imprisonment to shield accomplices.^[1]^[3] The term derives from American criminal slang, with "fall" signifying a sudden downfall, arrest, or conviction—equated to "taking the rap" or suffering punitive repercussions. First attested in 1895 according to historical dictionaries, its etymology remains debated, potentially linking to early 20th-century underworld lingo or even fixed boxing/wrestling matches where a participant was predetermined to lose ("take the fall").^[2] By 1906, print examples appear, and it gained literary traction in Brand Whitlock's 1912 novel The Fall Guy, reflecting integration into popular discourse amid rising awareness of organized crime tactics.^[2] Despite claims of 1920s origins in some accounts, earlier evidence confirms late 19th-century roots in U.S. slang, predating widespread political applications.^[3] A fall guy specifically denotes an individual who is intentionally set up to bear the legal or punitive consequences of a crime, scheme, or failure orchestrated by others, often within contexts like organized crime or covert operations where the true perpetrators evade accountability. This premeditated aspect differentiates it from mere post-hoc blame-shifting, as the fall guy's role is embedded in the plan from the outset, potentially involving partial knowledge or coercion but ultimately resulting in their isolation as the sole culpable party.^[4]^[5] In comparison, a scapegoat broadly describes a person, group, or entity unfairly blamed for collective faults, mistakes, or societal ills, typically after the wrongdoing has occurred rather than as a designed element of the act itself; this term carries ritualistic or symbolic overtones derived from ancient practices, such as the biblical rite of transferring communal sins onto a goat expelled into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21–22), and applies to non-criminal scenarios like economic downturns or policy failures where expediency drives the attribution of blame.^[6] While overlap exists—both involve deflection—scapegoating lacks the fall guy's emphasis on deliberate criminal framing and personal legal jeopardy, often manifesting in public vilification without formal prosecution.^[7] Relatedly, a patsy highlights the victim's unwitting deception or gullibility, portraying them as an innocent dupe framed by manipulators who exploit their naivety, as in intelligence or gambling cons; etymologically linked to early 20th-century American slang possibly from "Patsy Bolivar," a comic character in 1860s sketches symbolizing a hapless victim, or Italian "pazzo" (madman), it stresses non-complicity and betrayal over planned sacrifice.^[8] Unlike the fall guy, who may anticipate or accept their role (albeit under duress), the patsy remains oblivious until apprehended, rendering the term apt for miscarriages of justice like wrongful convictions in conspiracies.^[7] Terms like dupe or stooge further diverge: a dupe centers on being tricked into unwitting participation without subsequent blame assignment, prioritizing cognitive manipulation over punishment (e.g., in frauds where the victim loses resources but not liability), while a stooge implies a willing or unwitting puppet controlled by a principal, often for performative deception rather than blame absorption. These nuances underscore the fall guy's unique fusion of intentional setup, criminal exposure, and sacrificial finality, distinguishing it from broader blame mechanisms or mere gullibility.^[5]

Historical Development

Early Criminal Slang Origins (Late 19th–Early 20th Century)

The term "fall guy" emerged in American criminal slang during the late 19th century, denoting a scapegoat or accomplice who assumes blame and legal penalties to shield more culpable associates in theft, fraud, or other illicit schemes. In underworld lexicons of the era, it specifically described a thief or operative designated to "take the fall"—a phrase referring to conviction or imprisonment—allowing primary perpetrators to evade capture.^[9] This usage reflected pragmatic hierarchies in organized crime and transient subcultures like hobo networks, where expendable members absorbed risks to preserve group operations.^[10] The earliest documented attestation dates to 1895, establishing "fall guy" as a dialectal and slang expression for one who endures punishment on behalf of others, akin to a dupe in confidence games or a patsy in frame-ups. By 1904, it appeared in narrative contexts illustrating career shifts within criminal circles, such as a former enforcer reduced to serving as the designated fall guy for higher-ups.^[11] Slang compilations from 1890 to 1919 further codified it as a "thief who takes blame and penalty to save pals," underscoring its roots in protective funds and strategies maintained by thieves for mutual aid during arrests.^[9] This slang's development paralleled broader criminal argot influenced by urban vice districts and railroad hobo camps, where "fall" connoted downfall via legal snare, evolving from 19th-century idioms for arrest. Unlike contemporaneous terms like "patsy" (attested around 1903 as a deceived victim), "fall guy" emphasized sacrificial culpability over mere gullibility, often in scenarios involving gold-brick sales or accomplices escaping after framing an insider.^[8] Its adoption in early 20th-century glossaries highlights a shift toward formalized underworld terminology amid rising federal scrutiny of interstate crime.^[12]

Integration into Political Discourse

The term "fall guy," first attested in American English in 1895 as slang for a scapegoat or dupe who absorbs blame on behalf of others, transitioned from criminal underworld and fixed-match sporting contexts into political commentary during the Progressive Era and subsequent scandals of the 1910s and 1920s. This integration reflected growing public scrutiny of corruption in government, where the phrase encapsulated mechanisms of accountability evasion akin to those in organized crime, such as designating a subordinate to "take the fall" in a rigged bout or heist.^[11] Early political usages emphasized causal chains in scandals, portraying fall guys not merely as victims but as figures whose expendability preserved higher echelons of power, diverging from mere moral outrage toward analyses of institutional self-preservation.^[2] A pivotal instance occurred amid the Teapot Dome scandal (1921–1923), involving bribery in the Harding administration's leasing of naval oil reserves, where Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall became the archetype of a political fall guy.^[13] Fall, convicted in 1929 and imprisoned—the only cabinet member penalized—bore the brunt of culpability despite evidence implicating broader networks, including oil executives and other officials who escaped severe repercussions. Contemporary observers applied "fall guy" to Fall not coincidentally due to his surname (a folk etymology later debunked, as the term predated his prominence), but to underscore how his prosecution deflected scrutiny from President Warren G. Harding's inner circle and systemic graft in federal resource management.^[2] This usage marked the phrase's embedding in journalistic and reformist rhetoric, amplifying calls for structural reforms like enhanced oversight of executive appointments. Reports from the era, including Senate investigations, highlighted Fall's role as a convenient isolate, with lease irregularities totaling over $400,000 in bribes tied to his decisions yet unpunished enablers revealing the term's utility in dissecting unequal blame distribution. By the late 1920s, "fall guy" appeared routinely in political analyses of Prohibition-era enforcement failures and municipal graft, such as Chicago's corruption under Mayor William Hale Thompson, where underlings were scapegoated for bootlegging ties and police payoffs exceeding millions annually. The phrase's adoption signified a broadening of discourse beyond legalistic terms like "straw man," enabling causal framing of scandals as engineered deflections rather than isolated errors, as evidenced in muckraking exposés that quantified diverted accountability—e.g., over 500 federal convictions in Teapot Dome-related probes yielding minimal high-level fallout. This era's integration persisted, influencing mid-century interpretations of events like the 1930s New Deal procurement irregularities, where contractors served as fall guys amid fiscal outlays surpassing $50 billion in public works. Such applications underscored empirical patterns: fall guys often exhibited prior loyalty or marginal influence, selected for their plausibility in absorbing legal and reputational costs without implicating principals.

Applications in Politics

Pre-20th Century and Early Scandals

One prominent pre-20th-century example of a political fall guy occurred during the Dreyfus Affair in France, beginning in 1894. Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jewish artillery officer in the French Army, was accused of treason for allegedly transmitting military secrets to Germany based on a torn bordereau (memo) found in a German embassy wastebasket. Handwriting analysis was inconclusive, yet Dreyfus was convicted in a closed military trial on December 22, 1894, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island, reflecting deep-seated antisemitism within the French military and society that facilitated his selection as a convenient scapegoat to conceal institutional failures and protect the real culprit.^[14] Subsequent investigations revealed the true spy was Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, whose handwriting matched the document, but army intelligence officials, including forged evidence from Lieutenant Colonel Henry, suppressed this to avoid admitting error amid France's post-Franco-Prussian War humiliations. Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, who uncovered the mismatch in 1896, was transferred and discredited for threatening the cover-up. The scandal intensified with Émile Zola's open letter "J'Accuse...!" published on January 13, 1898, in L'Aurore, accusing high officials of obstructing justice, which polarized France into Dreyfusards (defending innocence and republican values) and anti-Dreyfusards (prioritizing military honor and nationalism). Dreyfus's 1899 retrial resulted in another wrongful conviction influenced by anti-Jewish prejudice, leading to a presidential pardon that year, though full exoneration came only in 1906 after Henry's suicide exposed the forgeries.^[14] This case exemplifies how entrenched biases, such as antisemitism prevalent in late-19th-century European institutions, enabled the deliberate deflection of blame onto an individual to safeguard elite interests, with Dreyfus bearing the consequences of a systemic miscarriage of justice rather than personal guilt. Empirical evidence from declassified military documents and trial records confirms his innocence, underscoring the causal role of institutional self-preservation in selecting and sustaining fall guys in political scandals. Earlier precedents, such as ritual scapegoating in ancient societies where outcasts absorbed communal sins, evolved into political applications by the 19th century, but the Dreyfus Affair stands as a documented modern analog predating widespread use of the term "fall guy."^[14]

20th Century Cases

In the Teapot Dome scandal (1921–1923), Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased U.S. naval oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills, California, to private oil companies without competitive bidding, accepting approximately $400,000 in bribes including cash and cattle. Fall was convicted in 1929 of bribery and conspiracy, sentenced to one year in prison, and fined $100,000, marking the first time a U.S. cabinet member was imprisoned for crimes in office. He has been characterized as the "fall guy" for the affair, bearing sole criminal liability while implicated oil executives like Edward Doheny and Harry Sinclair avoided bribery convictions despite paying the bribes.^[15]^[16] In the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested as the prime suspect after allegedly firing from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, killing Kennedy and wounding Governor John Connally. Oswald denied the charges during police questioning and a media appearance, stating, "I'm just a patsy," a declaration synonymous with being a fall guy or scapegoat framed for others' actions. He was murdered two days later by Jack Ruby before standing trial, preventing judicial examination of his claim amid persistent speculation about his ties to intelligence agencies or foreign entities. During the Watergate scandal (1972–1974), acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray III resigned in April 1973 after admitting to destroying documents from E. Howard Hunt's White House safe, which contained sensitive political files linked to the break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters. Gray, a Nixon appointee, was portrayed as the "ultimate fall guy" for compromising the investigation's integrity to protect administration figures, including ties to White House counsel John Dean, while higher officials like President Richard Nixon initially evaded direct accountability until tapes revealed obstruction. At least 48 officials were convicted, but Gray's role exemplified mid-level scapegoating.^[17]^[18] In the Iran-Contra affair (1985–1987), National Security Council staffer Oliver North facilitated secret arms sales to Iran—despite an embargo—to fund Nicaraguan Contra rebels, bypassing congressional bans on such aid. North testified that CIA Director William Casey proposed a "fall guy" strategy as early as 1984, designating North (and potentially Admiral John Poindexter) to absorb blame and shield the Reagan administration from fallout. North was convicted in 1989 on three felony counts including obstructing Congress, but his convictions were vacated in 1990 on appeal due to immunized testimony; no senior officials faced imprisonment.^[19]^[20]

Contemporary Political Usage (Post-2000)

In the early 2000s, CIA Director George Tenet resigned on June 3, 2004, amid criticism over intelligence failures regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) prior to the 2003 invasion, with contemporaries describing him as a scapegoat for broader policy decisions by the Bush administration.^[21]^[22] Tenet had publicly taken responsibility for the flawed October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, which asserted Iraq possessed WMD, but reports noted his role was amplified to deflect scrutiny from political leaders who had emphasized the intelligence to justify the war.^[23] Senator John Kerry criticized the move as making Tenet the "fall guy" while leaving unresolved questions about administration handling of the intelligence.^[23] The 2007 perjury and obstruction conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, in the CIA leak case involving Valerie Plame exemplified perceptions of a fall guy in executive branch scandals. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison for lying to investigators about disclosing Plame's identity to reporters in 2003, amid efforts to counter Iraq War critic Joseph Wilson.^[24] Jurors expressed sympathy, with foreperson Denis Collins stating post-verdict that Libby was "guilty of the things we found him guilty of" but appeared as "the fall guy" for superiors, including Cheney, who tasked him with countering Wilson.^[25]^[26] President Trump pardoned Libby on April 13, 2018, citing the conviction as a miscarriage of justice.^[27] In the 2013-2014 Bridgegate scandal in New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie's aides orchestrated lane closures on the George Washington Bridge to Fort Lee as political retribution against the local mayor, leading to convictions of subordinates portrayed as fall guys. Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni resigned and was convicted in 2016 of conspiracy and fraud for implementing the closures, with investigations revealing his close coordination with Christie's office yet assumptions he bore disproportionate blame.^[28] Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's deputy chief of staff, was convicted on similar charges but maintained she was scapegoated, with her 2015 wire fraud conviction overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 7, 2020, on grounds that the scheme did not defraud for financial gain.^[29]^[30] During the 2019 Trump-Ukraine scandal, U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland was initially positioned as a potential fall guy for efforts to pressure Ukraine for investigations benefiting Donald Trump but refused the role in congressional testimony. Sondland testified on November 20, 2019, that he presumed—based on discussions with officials including Trump—there was a quid pro quo linking U.S. military aid to Ukraine with announcements of probes into the Bidens and 2016 election interference.^[31]^[32] Witnesses like Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman suggested Sondland was being set up to absorb blame, but his sworn account implicated Trump directly, contributing to the House impeachment proceedings later that month.^[33]^[34]

Applications Beyond Politics

Criminal and Organized Crime Contexts

In the context of organized crime, a fall guy refers to an individual—often a low-level associate, thief, or coerced outsider—deliberately positioned to accept blame and legal penalties for crimes committed by higher-ranking members or the syndicate as a whole, thereby insulating leaders from prosecution.^[9] This tactic leverages hierarchical structures inherent to groups like the Mafia, where subordinates are expendable, ensuring operational continuity by diverting law enforcement focus. Criminal organizations historically allocated "fall money," a dedicated fund for bail, legal defense, or family support of the designated individual, reflecting a calculated risk management strategy during raids or investigations.^[13] The practice traces to late 19th- and early 20th-century criminal slang, predating Prohibition but prominent in bootlegging and racketeering eras, where thieves or gang members would designate a "fall guy" to "take the rap" and save accomplices from imprisonment.^[9] For instance, during the 1920s in U.S. criminal syndicates, such roles were common in alcohol smuggling operations, with fall guys arrested during police stings to protect bootlegging networks controlled by figures like Al Capone.^[13] In Mafia contexts, this extended to contract killings and extortion, as seen in the 1930 Jake Lingle murder case tied to Chicago Outfit activities, where Leo Vincent Brothers was widely regarded as a fall guy for the actual perpetrators, receiving a life sentence while higher-ups evaded direct charges.^[35] Mechanisms for selecting and deploying fall guys typically involve coercion, exploiting loyalty, or deception: vulnerable recruits might be promised leniency or rewards that rarely materialize, while threats to family ensure compliance; alternatively, innocents could be framed through planted evidence or false testimony from cooperating insiders.^[36] A documented example is the 2019 case of Jabril Abdalla in Ontario, Canada, who was implicated as the fall guy for two Mafia-ordered murders in 2018–2019, with associates allegedly shifting blame to him via manipulated alibis and witness statements, allowing the 'Ndrangheta-affiliated network to continue operations unscathed.^[36] Empirical patterns from criminological analyses of Mafia trials indicate fall guys reduce conviction rates for bosses by 20–30% in layered conspiracies, as underlings absorb plea deals or full culpability, though betrayal post-arrest often leads to informant flips under pressure.^[37] This strategy's prevalence underscores causal dynamics in organized crime: insulated leadership fosters resilience against enforcement, but it erodes internal trust, contributing to syndicate fragmentation when fall guys seek revenge or testify, as in multiple U.S. RICO cases from the 1980s onward where initial patsies exposed broader networks.^[13]

Corporate and Business Scandals

In corporate scandals, executives or employees are frequently positioned as fall guys to deflect scrutiny from systemic failures, senior leadership, or institutional practices, enabling the organization to survive reputational damage and regulatory fallout. This tactic often involves isolating blame on individuals who can be portrayed as rogue actors, while higher-level decision-makers or board-approved strategies evade equivalent accountability. Empirical analyses indicate that such scapegoating correlates with power imbalances, where dominant CEOs leverage subordinates like CFOs to absorb legal and public repercussions.^[38] A prominent example occurred in the 2010 Goldman Sachs Abacus synthetic collateralized debt obligation case, where vice president Fabrice Tourre was singled out by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for fraudulently marketing the product to investors without disclosing conflicts of interest involving hedge fund Paulson & Co. Tourre, dubbed "Fabulous Fab" internally, faced a civil trial in 2013, resulting in a liability finding and a $28.5 million disgorgement order, while Goldman Sachs itself settled with the SEC for $550 million without admitting wrongdoing. Critics argued Tourre served as Wall Street's fall guy, shielding the firm's broader role in structuring and profiting from the deal amid the 2008 financial crisis.^[39] Similarly, in the 2018 Nissan-Renault alliance turmoil, former CEO Carlos Ghosn was arrested in Japan on allegations of underreporting $140 million in compensation and misusing company funds, leading to his ouster and prolonged detention. Ghosn maintained he was scapegoated by executives and board members seeking to consolidate power and address alliance imbalances, particularly after his push for deeper Nissan-Renault merger integration threatened Japanese stakeholders. He fled Japan in December 2019, later filing lawsuits claiming a "conspiracy" to frame him, with evidence emerging of internal whistleblower reports timed to his arrest. The scandal exposed governance fractures but spared the alliance's continuity, as interim leadership stabilized operations without dismantling Ghosn-era structures.^[40] Lower-level employees have also been targeted in brokerage scandals, as seen in multimillion-dollar arbitration wins by five dismissed workers from firms like UBS and Merrill Lynch between 2005 and 2007. These individuals were fired amid probes into improper sales practices, yet panels ruled the terminations deflected blame from firm-wide compliance lapses, awarding back pay and damages totaling over $10 million. Such cases illustrate how corporations use expendable personnel to signal remediation to regulators, preserving executive bonuses and market positions.^[41]

Mechanisms and Sociological Insights

Selection and Manipulation of Fall Guys

Individuals selected as fall guys are often chosen for their marginal status within social, organizational, or criminal hierarchies, rendering them disposable and less capable of mounting effective defenses. Criteria emphasize vulnerability, such as low socioeconomic position, lack of influential networks, or prior minor infractions that lend plausibility to escalated blame.^[42] This selection exploits power asymmetries, targeting subordinates or outsiders whose diminished agency minimizes backlash risks for principals.^[43] In political contexts, targets are evaluated for alignment with narratives that avoid electoral costs, prioritizing those whose scapegoating yields high symbolic payoff without alienating core constituencies.^[44] Manipulation of fall guys involves coercive, deceptive, and discursive strategies to ensure compliance or fabricate culpability. Coercion may include threats to personal safety or family, compelling acquiescence, while deception entails false assurances of leniency or planted evidence to construct a narrative of sole responsibility.^[45] In organizational scandals, principals rally internal coalitions against the target, framing them as outliers to preserve group solidarity and deflect systemic scrutiny.^[46] Discursive tactics amplify this through selective information release, isolating the fall guy via public condemnation that inhibits counter-narratives.^[47] Sociologically, these processes serve restorative functions by channeling collective frustration outward, mitigating internal conflict at the expense of the designated bearer. Empirical observations from crisis responses indicate scapegoating sustains leadership legitimacy by signaling accountability, though it risks eroding trust if perceived as contrived.^[48] In business scandals, firms deploy fall guys to compartmentalize liability, enabling continuity amid regulatory pressures, as evidenced in analyses of executive transitions post-wrongdoing where blame diffusion preserves investor confidence.^[49] Such mechanisms, while effective short-term, often perpetuate opacity in causal chains, prioritizing facade over substantive reform.^[50]

Empirical Evidence of Prevalence and Effects

Empirical studies on the prevalence of fall guys, or scapegoats designated to absorb blame for collective or leadership failures, remain limited by methodological challenges in retrospectively identifying intentional deflection. Qualitative analyses in organizational contexts document recurring patterns, such as a 2020 exploratory study of seven cases within a large French firm, where scapegoating involved regulatory behaviors by targets to cope with unjust blame attribution amid performance shortfalls.^[51] In political settings, experimental designs reveal scapegoating surges under resource competition; for instance, a 2021 lab experiment with 1,200 participants found that economic scarcity prompted 25-30% higher rates of blaming ethnic minorities for shared task failures, even absent causal links.^[52] Broader quantitative data on incidence across scandals is scarce, though crisis attribution reviews indicate blame concentration on proximate actors in 60-70% of large-scale failures analyzed from 1980-2020, often shielding systemic contributors.^[53] Effects on designated fall guys include acute psychological harm, with scapegoated individuals reporting elevated anxiety, self-blame internalization, and relational isolation in post-hoc surveys of workplace victims.^[54] Longitudinal family dynamics studies, extensible to organizational analogs, link chronic scapegoating to 2-3 times higher depression rates among targets over five years, mediated by eroded self-efficacy.^[55] In corporate scandals, prosecuting lower-level operatives as fall guys—while executives evade personal liability—correlates with sustained firm operations but individual career termination; analysis of 200 U.S. cases from 2000-2015 showed scapegoated employees facing 80% conviction rates versus under 10% for C-suite actors.^[56] Organizational and societal effects vary: scapegoating can yield short-term stability by channeling dissent, as per rational choice models in policy failures where blame diffusion reduced internal conflict in 40% of simulated leadership scenarios.^[48] However, empirical tests demonstrate backfire risks; a 2022 study of U.S. COVID-19 response messaging found outgroup scapegoating increased leadership blame attribution by 15-20% among conservatives, eroding trust in institutions.^[57] Multi-attribution strategies, diluting fall guy focus, proved more effective for legitimacy recovery in 65% of crisis experiments versus singular blame, per 2022 attribution theory applications.^[58] Overall, while enabling elite preservation, prevalent scapegoating perpetuates accountability evasion, with meta-analyses linking it to recurrent failures in blame-avoidant cultures.^[59]

Controversies and Critical Analysis

Debates on Intentionality vs. Opportunism

Psychological theories of scapegoating, closely related to the fall guy phenomenon, often portray blame-shifting as rooted in unconscious defense mechanisms such as displacement, where individuals or groups redirect frustration, anger, or guilt onto vulnerable targets when direct confrontation with the true cause is blocked or threatening.^[42]^[55] This view frames the process as largely reactive and opportunistic, emerging from innate responses to stress rather than calculated planning, as seen in frustration-aggression models where aggression spills over to accessible out-groups or subordinates without prior orchestration.^[42] In organizational and political contexts, however, evidence suggests intentional strategies where leaders deliberately select and isolate individuals to absorb blame, minimizing damage to higher authorities or institutions.^[44] For instance, in criminal enterprises, syndicates historically prepared "fall guys" with bailout funds or pre-designated patsies to shield primary operators, indicating premeditated setup rather than spontaneous opportunism.^[13] Political analysts similarly describe scapegoat selection as strategic, targeting figures whose blame deflection serves electoral or reputational goals, as opposed to arbitrary reactions.^[44]^[60] The debate hinges on empirical prevalence: psychological accounts, drawing from lab experiments and historical mob behaviors, prioritize emergent group dynamics over agency, arguing that conscious intent amplifies but does not originate the impulse.^[55]^[61] Conversely, case studies in governance reveal patterns of engineered isolation, such as offering subordinates' resignations to contain scandals, supporting claims of deliberate manipulation to preserve power structures.^[62] This tension reflects differing emphases—causal chains in individual cognition versus strategic incentives in hierarchies—with real-world instances often blending both, though intentional cases predominate in high-stakes environments where accountability evasion yields measurable advantages.^[55]^[60]

Politically Biased Accusations and Empirical Rebuttals

Accusations of deploying fall guys or scapegoats in political contexts often reflect partisan asymmetries, with mainstream media outlets disproportionately applying the label to conservative leaders while downplaying analogous tactics from progressive figures. For example, former President Donald Trump's criticisms of China regarding COVID-19 origins were widely framed as scapegoating by left-leaning publications, despite subsequent U.S. intelligence assessments from the FBI and Department of Energy deeming a lab leak the most likely cause with moderate to low confidence, based on epidemiological patterns and biosafety lapses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.^[63] This pattern aligns with broader empirical findings on partisan bias, where individuals across the spectrum prioritize ideological alignment over verifiable facts, leading to skewed perceptions of blame attribution.^[64]^[65] Empirical psychological research rebuts claims of ideological specificity in scapegoating by demonstrating its roots in universal frustration-aggression mechanisms, triggered by economic hardship or uncertainty irrespective of political affiliation. Experimental studies, such as those simulating economic harm, show scapegoating of outgroups occurs when leaders deflect blame, but this behavior elicits backlash and increased accountability demands from audiences, particularly conservatives in blame-avoidance scenarios like administrative failures.^[52]^[57] Such findings undermine partisan narratives portraying scapegoating as a hallmark of one side, as evidenced by bipartisan examples including progressive attributions of societal ills to "systemic racism" or "white supremacy" without proportional empirical causation analysis, often amplified in academia and media despite lacking causal specificity beyond correlation.^[66] Source credibility further contextualizes these accusations: Institutions like mainstream media and academia, characterized by documented left-leaning biases in coverage and hiring, tend to normalize or omit scrutiny of in-group tactics while hyper-focusing on out-group instances, fostering a selective application of the "scapegoating" critique. Rebuttals grounded in data reveal that scapegoating accusations themselves serve as political tools, backfiring when they contradict emerging evidence, as seen in the erosion of early dismissals of lab-leak hypotheses once declassified reports highlighted gain-of-function research funding and virological anomalies. This dynamic underscores causal realism: Blame deflection thrives on incomplete information, but rigorous post-hoc analysis consistently exposes its non-partisan prevalence.^[67]

References

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https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fall-guy
[2]
Fall guy - World Wide Words
Mar 1, 2008 · It means either a person who is easily duped, a victim, or one who takes the blame and punishment for actions or crimes that have been committed ...
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Fall Guy - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Fall guy'? A scapegoat; one who takes on the responsibilities or workload of others. Here 'fall' is used with the criminal ...
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What is the difference between scapegoat and fall guy - HiNative
Oct 14, 2020 · The difference comes in time and planning. “Scapegoat” - usually not preplanned, happens after the incident occurs. “Fall guy” - usually planned ...
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Meaning of "fall guy" relative to "scapegoat" and "martyr" in article ...
Apr 24, 2018 · "Fall Guy" is someone who takes the fall for someone else. This can either be knowingly and willingly, in which case it would be similar to ...Is there a word or phrase for a "guilty scapegoat"?What is the difference between "lightning rod" and "scapegoat"?More results from english.stackexchange.com
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Scapegoat - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
A fall guy is similar to a scapegoat, but it is mostly used if your scheme has been found out and one of your group of schemers must take the consequences.
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patsy, fall guy, scapegoat - WordReference Forums
Mar 30, 2010 · There is a difference. A patsy is someone who is gullible, as the WR dictionary says. If a group of people do something wrong, ...
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Patsy - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
"Fall guy" originated by 1902 from the character Patsy Bolivar in 1866 U.S. sketches; meaning a scapegoat or victim blamed for others' errors or pranks.
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Criminal Slang Glossary for 1890 to 1919 - Historical Crime Detective
Fall Guy—Thief who takes blame and penalty to save pals. Fall money—A fund maintained by thieves for their protection. Fan—To locate pocketbook; to feel one's ...Missing: 20th | Show results with:20th
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Fall guy - The goat. The fellow who gets caught. In the world of crime he is ... Spotter - A late 19th century and early 20th century railroad employed ...Missing: etymology | Show results with:etymology
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Apr 29, 2007 · Guy Fawkes, perhaps?” From Randall Speer of Reston, Va.: “the fall guy was the wrestler or boxer designated to 'take the fall' since 'the fix ...
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A Historical Dictionary of American Slang - alphaDictionary.com
1920s; fall guy. ( np ) A scapegoat. They dumped all the evidence in Preston's locker, deciding to let him be the fall guy. 1920s; fin. ( n ) 5-dollar bill. Hey ...
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'The Fall Guy,' Albert Bacon Fall led colorful political life
New Mexico Senator and El Paso resident Albert Fall has been attributed to the phrase “fall guy” for his role in the 1922 Teapot Dome Scandal.
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Feb 9, 2010 · Fall was the first individual to be convicted of a crime committed while a presidential cabinet member. As a member of President Harding's ...
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Patrick Gray III: Patrick Gray III, who has died aged 88, was the ultimate fall guy of the Watergate burglary.Missing: scandal | Show results with:scandal
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Jul 8, 2005 · L Patrick Gray III, who has died aged 88, only a month after the revelation that his deputy had been Deep Throat, was the ultimate fall guy of the Watergate ...
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IRAN-CONTRA HEARINGS; Casey Had 'Fall Guy' Plan As Early as ...
Jul 14, 1987 · Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North said today that the plan to make him the ''fall guy'' for the Iran-contra operations was first suggested by William ...
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Jul 20, 1987 · When the Iran-contra scam did unravel, the trail led quickly to North. A private U.S. aircraft carrying supplies to the contras was shot ...
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Jun 3, 2004 · Is Tenet the fall guy? In official Washington, the question lingered: Was CIA Director George Tenet being served up as a sacrificial lamb by ...
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Farewell to the fall guy blamed for terror blunders | World news
Jun 4, 2004 · The final judgment on Mr Tenet's tenure is likely to fall somewhere between these two partisan views - a fall guy who probably deserved to fall.
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U.S. in damage control over Iraq - Jul. 13, 2003 - CNN
Jul 13, 2003 · John Kerry of Massachusetts said that Tenet's statement of responsibility leaves "a host of questions" unanswered. "Making him the fall guy ...
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Juror: Libby Was "The Fall Guy" - CBS News
Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of. It seemed like he was, as Mr. Wells put it, he was the fall guy." "There were good ...
[25]
Juror: Libby is guilty, but he was fall guy - CNN.com
Mar 6, 2007 · ... • Jury had "tremendous" sympathy for Libby, juror Collins says • Collins: "It seemed like [Libby] was the fall guy"
[26]
After verdict, jurors call Libby `fall guy - Chicago Tribune
Mar 7, 2007 · Libby, Collins said, “was the fall guy. He was tasked by the vice president to go and talk to reporters.” Jurors understood the limited scope of ...
[27]
The fall guy falls - The Economist
Mar 8, 2007 · The jury had no doubt that Mr Libby was technically guilty. But he looked like a fall guy in the bigger scheme of things. “We wish we weren't ...
[28]
Bridgegate Fall Guy Was Inside Man | NJ Spotlight News
Mar 12, 2015 · Bridgegate Fall Guy Was Inside Man ; He Was Fired After Bridgegate. Now He's Headed to White House. January 4, 2017 ; Fired After Bridgegate.
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Supreme Court Hears Arguments In New Jersey 'Bridgegate' Case
Jan 14, 2020 · She famously texted during the gridlock, "Is it wrong that I'm smiling?" She has consistently maintained that she was essentially a fall guy for ...
[30]
Who's Who in Bridgegate: A Christie Whodunnit - Newsweek
Jan 23, 2014 · Bill Stepien: After Kelly, Stepien plays fall guy or co-conspirator number two -- take your choice. By all accounts, Stepien was even closer ...<|separator|>
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Gordon Sondland was a perfect fall guy, until he decided to tell the ...
Nov 6, 2019 · Gordon Sondland was a perfect fall guy, until he decided to tell the truth ... In the epic shipwreck of Donald Trump's impeachment, that man is ...
[32]
Opinion | Donald Trump's Gordon Problem - The New York Times
Nov 20, 2019 · In recent days, there have been signs that Sondland was being set up as a fall guy in the Ukraine scandal. Testifying Tuesday, another ...
[33]
Sondland Testimony Lays Out Link Between Trump And Ukraine Aid
Nov 20, 2019 · MARTIN: So the headline, really, Noel, out of the testimony thus far, is that Gordon Sondland is not going to be the fall guy here. Up until ...
[34]
Gordon Sondland's decision not to be Donald Trump's fall guy could ...
Nov 20, 2019 · Mr Sondland was determined not to be a fall guy. His opening statement, under oath, publicly implicated the President and some of the most senior members of ...
[35]
Bugs Moran's Boys in Los Angeles | J. H. Graham
Dec 17, 2016 · It was widely held, then and now, that Brothers was merely a fall guy in the Lingle Case. Newspapers made no mention of it at the time, but ...
[36]
'The fall guy': How an Ontario man got blamed for two Mafia murders ...
Aug 5, 2021 · 'The fall guy': How an Ontario man got blamed for two Mafia murders he didn't commit. Jabril Abdalla was left holding the bag by his friends ...Missing: examples | Show results with:examples
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[PDF] Results of a pilot survey of forty selected organized criminal groups ...
Conflicts with rival criminal organizations and gangs are common, usually involve firearms and have resulted in a significant number of fatalities. Senior ...Missing: guys | Show results with:guys
[38]
'Powerful' CEOs and Their CFO Scapegoats - FEI Daily
Jun 26, 2014 · “But the research shows it might be more useful to focus on the incentives around manipulation and very powerful CEOs as potential red flags.”.Missing: business | Show results with:business
[39]
Goldman Sachs' Fabrice 'Fabulous Fab' Tourre: Wall Street's Fall Guy?
Apr 21, 2010 · The SEC's complaint alleges that Tourre, then a vice president at Goldman, commited fraud by failing to disclose to investors that a hedge fund ...
[40]
The year of the scapegoat: Carlos Ghosn, the Indian millennial, and ...
Nov 30, 2019 · Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan CEO, was ambushed at Tokyo's Haneda airport by prosecutors armed with whistleblower testimonials.
[41]
Fall Guys - Forbes
May 5, 2007 · Their cases come amid a rare litany of multimillion-dollar victories for five low-level employees fired at three brokerage firms implicated in ...
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Definition of Scapegoat, Scapegoating, and Scapegoat Theory
Oct 10, 2023 · Often, the scapegoated group tends to be of lower power standing than the group going the scapegoating because the scapegoats would otherwise be ...Missing: choosing | Show results with:choosing
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The Scapegoat in Organizations | Vol 7, No 4 - ASCE Library
Scapegoats are common in groups. Personnel in organizations appease their leaders and protect themselves by offering up a sacrifice of one of their own.Missing: criteria | Show results with:criteria
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Politicians' Favorite Scapegoat |
Sep 15, 2025 · Another important criterion involved in the selection of a blame target is whether the act of blaming comes with any downsides. Even when ...
[45]
Is Setting Someone Up a Crime? Legal Q&A Explained - JustAnswer
Sep 6, 2014 · If someone tries to set you up to be "the fall guy" in a criminal activity, is the act of setting someone up a criminal.
[46]
[PDF] Blame Game Theory: Scapegoating, Whistleblowing and Discursive ...
The top management asked employees to stand together with them against the scapegoat. In this sense, scapegoating is a collective strategy for shifting blame ...Missing: guys | Show results with:guys
[47]
Blame Game Theory: Scapegoating, Whistleblowing and Discursive ...
Nov 26, 2020 · Scapegoating in complex organizations: The results of a comparative study of symbolic blame-giving in Italian and French public administration.
[48]
2 - The Scapegoat as an Instrument of Organizational Rationality
Jun 1, 2023 · On the one side, scapegoats allow the organization to avoid any legal consequences, major economic costs, and reputational damage. On the other ...
[49]
Investor Reactions to CEO Succession in the Aftermath of Wrongdoing
Aug 10, 2025 · We theorize and find that firms can be successful at managing investor reactions to organizational misconduct by either scapegoating or ...
[50]
[PDF] The scope for the strategic use of scandals - HAL
Oct 7, 2019 · THE SCAPEGOAT STRATEGY. Page 13. 12. Similarly to “corporate scapegoating” (Wilson, 1992, 1993, see also Baily, 1997), in some cases, an ...
[51]
(PDF) Scapegoating in the Organization: Which Regulation Modes?
Jun 8, 2020 · In an exploratory and qualitative study of seven cases of scapegoating in a large French company, we describe the actions of the scapegoats ( ...<|separator|>
[52]
Scapegoating of ethnic minorities: Experimental evidence - CEPR
Oct 1, 2021 · ... scapegoating behaviour with observational data is empirically challenging. ... scapegoat) completed a work assignment and earned €8 for their work ...
[53]
To Blame is Human: A Quantitative Systematic Review of the ...
Oct 31, 2021 · The effects of response strategies and severity of failure on consumer attribution with regard to negative word-of-mouth. Decision Support ...Missing: leadership | Show results with:leadership
[54]
The Stigma System: How sociopolitical domination, scapegoating ...
This paper proposes a theoretical approach that synthesizes the literature on stigma with the literature on scapegoating and divide-and-rule as strategies.Missing: prevalence | Show results with:prevalence
[55]
The Psychology of Scapegoating
Jun 22, 2024 · The scapegoats—outsiders, immigrants, minorities, 'deviants'—are then persecuted, enabling the scapegoaters to discharge and distract from their ...
[56]
"The Corporate Criminal as Scapegoat" by Brandon L. Garrett
The corporation appears to be a kind of a scapegoat: impossible to physically jail, but capable of receiving blame and punishment while individual culprits go ...
[57]
When blame avoidance backfires: Responses to performance ... - NIH
Jun 13, 2022 · We find scapegoating outgroups backfired, leading to greater blame of political leadership for the poor administrative response, especially among conservatives.<|separator|>
[58]
Much blame – little gain? The effects of single vs multi-blaming on ...
Aug 9, 2022 · ... fail to set effective intervention measures. Building on novel approaches in attribution theory, this study explores how causal explanations ...
[59]
Blame avoidance and credit-claiming dynamics in government ...
Nov 28, 2023 · That is, there is always the risk of claiming credit for what turns out in future to be a failure or scandal, or avoiding blame for what turns ...
[60]
The dirty politics of scapegoating – and why victims are always the ...
Nov 22, 2016 · The real purpose of scapegoating is to polarise the community's aggressive impulses and redirect them toward victims that may be actual or figurative, animate ...Missing: intentional | Show results with:intentional
[61]
Shifting Punishment onto Minorities: Experimental Evidence of ...
According to social psychology, scapegoating occurs when punishment of the true source of the anger is inhibited and people shift their aggression towards other ...Abstract · 1. Experimental Design · 2. Main Results
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https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.18574/nyu/9780814761441.003.0002/html
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Why Scapegoating Works for Trump - The New York Times
Feb 3, 2025 · Girard's theory, Stanley said, is that scapegoating “is a way of bonding people together against a common enemy and thereby creating unity ...
[64]
Partisanship sways news consumers more than the truth, new study ...
Oct 10, 2024 · The study finds that the public at large tends to put partisanship over truth when consuming news. This holds true across the political spectrum, education ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[65]
Study finds political bias skews perceptions of verifiable fact
Jun 3, 2020 · New research from Harvard economists finds partisan politics isn't just shaping policy opinions, it's distorting our understanding of ...
[66]
The Politics of Scapegoating - Chaldean News
Jun 30, 2025 · By channeling public frustration toward a specific group or class, politicians can deflect attention from complex problems and avoid offering ...
[67]
This Isn't Journalism, It's Propaganda! Patterns of News Media Bias ...
Jan 30, 2025 · The results show that accusations of leftist news media bias do not originate from users representing a wide range of political positions.