History of Data in Politics

First off, 538’s podcast, What’s the Point did a great four part series on the data of politics that covered the history of politics from the late 1800s through the primaries. So please check out the above links for more context behind this. A brief history of data in politics shows the major ways candidates appealed to constituents progressed along this path:

However, there are roots back to 1891 when James Clarkson, the RNC chairman, assembled a file that featured the “age, occupation, nativity, residence and all the other facts in each votersʼ life, and had them arranged alphabetically, so that literature could be sent constantly to every voter directly.”10

The Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012 hired enormous amounts of staffers — 342 in the 2012 race alone in technology, digital data and analytics.

History of Voting Trends by State7

All Elections since 1876 (the year Texas A&M was founded, whoop!)

Most Democratic (1932)

Most Republican (1972)

Voter Turnout Rates

In voter turnout data by country since 2000, the US ranks #159 out of #196 with just over 55% average voter turnout. We can and should do better.

Sources: