"Psychologically informed micro-targeted political campaigns: the use and abuse of data" with Dr Jens Koed Madsen

Past Event

Date
 18 October 2019, 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Location
 Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School
34 Broad Street (corner of Holywell and Catte Streets), Oxford, OX1 3BD

More Information

Event Recording:

Data-driven micro-targeted campaigns have become a main stable of political strategy. As personal and societal data becomes more accessible, we need to understand how it can be used and mis-used in political campaigns and whether it is relevant to regulate political candidates’ access to data.

This book talk will be followed by a drinks reception, all welcome

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Dr Jens Koed Madsen
Oxford Martin Fellow

Jens Koed Madsen is a Senior Research Assistant at the University of Oxford, an Oxford Martin Fellow on the Oxford Martin Programme on Sustainable Oceans and The Institute of New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, and an associate of St. Catherine’s College. His work focuses on the psychology of persuasion, belief revision, decision-making, and models of complex human-environment models.

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About the book

The Psychology of Micro-Targeted Election Campaigns examines the psychology behind micro-targeted tactics used in election campaigning and the advent of increasingly sophisticated dynamic Agent-Based Models (ABMs). It discusses individual profiling, how data and modelling are deployed to enhance the effectiveness of persuasion and mobilisation efforts in campaigns, and the potential limitations of these approaches. Madsen particularly explores how psychological insight and personal data are used to generate individualised models of voters and how these in turn are applied to optimise persuasion strategies tailored to a specific person.

Finally, the book considers the broader democratic dilemmas raised by the introduction of these tactics into politics and the critical civic importance of understanding how these campaigns function.This timely work offers fresh insights for students and scholars of political psychology, philosophy, political marketing, media, and communications.

The Psychology of Micro-Targeted Election Campaigns will be published in September 2019 by Palgrave Macmillan.