Wikimedia,
I have a psephological and election historical observation that I would like to share with
Wikimedia.
Low-brow, crass, and manipulative political advertising and marketing, various hot-button,
third-rail, dog-whistle, and wedge issues, have been deployed by candidates, campaigns,
and political actors and organizations during American election seasons. These tactics are
very much a part of our elections and appear to be subsequently omitted from encyclopedic
(e.g., Wikipedia) and historical coverage of the elections (e.g., 2000 – 2020).
How low have election campaigns gone? Very. Yet, for some reasons, American encyclopedists
and historians appear to be almost complicit, glossing over these problematic election
campaign tactics. Each historical election appears to be reduced to a single encyclopedia
article or small cluster of such articles, only some such articles attempt to list
election issues, and no such article mentions campaign advertising and marketing themes
and tactics deployed by campaigns, political actors, and organizations on radio,
television, the Web, or social media.
I propose that encyclopedists, scholars, and scientists seek to attend to, remember, and
record election campaign mass media tactics and manipulations lest we, the American
people, be doomed to repeat them in future elections. Perhaps by remembering the election
campaign advertising and marketing tactics utilized, including on social media, and
listing them encyclopedically, a buoyant pressure can be created with which to elevate our
American politics.
Thank you for your time and for considering these ideas with which to improve encyclopedic
coverage of American elections.
Best regards,
Adam Sobieski