Technology in election campaigns

Challenges and perspectives of the study of electoral micro-targeting

Abstract

Data are crucial to elections 2.0. They make electoral victories possible and benefit from a large media coverage. This is especially true of electoral targeting, a new technique whereby potential voters are geographically micro-targeted. It showcases the key characteristics of the technological turn taken by electoral campaigns: the use of big data and algorithms. However, electoral targeting remains a poorly known and scarcely documented. The technical dimensions of such political technology tend to be neglected which makes it difficult to reach an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon. In this paper, we identify and discuss four central issues in order to better understand the stakes of technological innovation in electoral campaigns, and, more broadly, of political technology.