Synopses & Reviews
NOW WITH A NEW AFTERWORD EXAMINING THE RESULTS OF THE 2012 ELECTIONRenegade thinkers are crashing the gates of venerable American institutions, replacing the so-called wise men with a radical new data-driven order. We’ve seen it in sports, and now Sasha Issenberg tells the hidden story of the analytical revolution upending the way political campaigns are run.
The book follows the academics and maverick operatives reengineering a high-stakes industry previously run on little more than gut instinct and outdated assumptions. Armed with research from behavioral psychology and randomized experiments that treat voters as unwitting guinea pigs, the smartest campaigns now believe they know who you will vote for even before you do. Issenberg tracks these fascinating techniques and shows how our most important politicians are putting them to use with surprising skill and alacrity.
Provocative, clear-eyed, and skillfully reported, The Victory Lab offers insight into political marketing, human decision making, and the increasing power of analytics.
Synopsis
UPDATED FOR THE 2016 ELECTION
The bookPoliticocalls Moneyballfor politics shows how cutting-edge social science and analytics are reshaping the modern political campaign.
Renegade thinkers are crashing the gates of a venerable American institution, shoving aside its so-called wise men and replacing them with a radical new data-driven order. We ve seen it in sports, and now inThe Victory Lab, journalist Sasha Issenberg tells the hidden story of the analytical revolution upending the way political campaigns are run in the 21st century.
The Victory Labfollows the academics and maverick operatives rocking the war room and re-engineering a high-stakes industry previously run on little more than gut instinct and outdated assumptions. Armed with research from behavioural psychology and randomized experiments that treat voters as unwitting guinea pigs, the smartest campaigns now believe they know who you will vote for even before you do. Issenberg tracks these fascinating techniques which include cutting edge persuasion experiments, innovative ways to mobilize voters, heavily researched electioneering methods and shows how our most important figures, such as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, are putting them to use with surprising skill and alacrity.
Provocative, clear-eyed and energetically reported, The Victory Laboffers iconoclastic insights into political marketing, human decision-making, and the increasing power of analytics."
About the Author
SASHA ISSENBERG is a columnist for Slate and the Washington correspondent for Monocle. He covered the 2008 election as a national political correspondent for The Boston Globe, and his work has also appeared in New York, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine. His first book, The Sushi Economy, was published in 2007.