Eitan Hersh, Yale University: Hacking The Electorate: An Information Theory of Political Mobilization
Professor Hersh will be presenting his current book project: Hacking the Electorate: A Theory of Campaign Strategy and Political Mobilization.
The book offers a theory of political mobilization that emphasizes the role of information in campaign strategy. When political campaigns reach out to voters, their decisions about the voters they will target, the methods they will employ, and the content of their messages depend largely on the data that the campaigns collect about the electorate. The data at the root of campaign strategy stems primarily from public records - administrative data that is subsidized by taxpayers and re-purposed for political ends. The book tells the story of how public records and other data are collected by political campaigns and, in turn, how they influence the ways politicians interact with voters.
Location: 127 Corwin Hall
Date/Time: 03/12/13 at 4:30 pm - 03/12/13 at 6:00 pm
Category: Colloquia
Department: Center for Study of Democratic Politics
