Description: Drawing on an innovative dataset of the professional careers of 628 presidential campaign staffers working in technology from 2004-2012 and interviews with more than 60 staffers, Prototype Politics details how and explains why the Democrats have taken up technology more than Republicans over the past decade.
Review Quotes: "Kreiss' contributions to political communication and STS are fresh and exciting. This book is a true insider's guide, and the final message about how data can improve the fabric of democracy will resonate with all readers."
--New Media & Society
--David Stark, author of The Sense of Dissonance: Accounts of Worth in Economic Life
"In this important book Daniel Kreiss argues that we have entered a 'technology-intensive' era of presidential campaigning-one requiring fluid networks of experts and novices, transforming national parties into 'databases, ' and evoking the socially-embedded politics of a century ago. Skillfully combining data and interpretation, Kreiss traces these changes to the way two decades of electoral outcomes were differentially understood by the Democratic and Republican parties."
--Michael X. Delli Carpini, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
"Prototype Politics offers a substantive behind-the-scenes look at campaigns' use of technology and how it is dramatically changing what it means to run for office in the 21st century. Kreiss has talked to a deep bench of practitioners in the campaign digital, data and analytics space that allows for insights into the process that go far beyond what you would normally get from daily coverage of the political horserace."
-- Alex Lundry, co-founder of Deep Root Analytics and Director of Data Science for Romney 2012