What To Do When Elections Embrace Sensationalism Over Substance
aka How to Survive 2024
2024 is my first Presidential election as a US citizen.
I wondered if the lens of now having a vote would make me view the usual election circus differently - a bit more earnestly, perhaps?
This has proven difficult so far with the start of the campaigning suggesting that this will be the most superficial reality TV style election yet. Worse still, it’s shaping up to be the re-run that nobody really seems to want.
So, other than a collective eye-roll, what does this actually mean? What are some of the impacts of it and how can it be approached in a way that helps one to maintain a sense of positivity and agency?
Scarcity of Focus on Policy Substance
When elections resemble reality TV, substantial policy discussions are overshadowed by sensationalism. The average American knows far more about their personal lives of the current candidates than they do about their policy intent. Policy understanding typically doesn’t stretch beyond one or two major issues.
As a result, most voters are prioritizing charisma or personality over competence and policy, or at best voting a single issue (which is typically so divisive that the chances of any legislation actually being passed on it are pretty slim).
Voters not really knowing that they’re voting for is a recipe for them to be surprised by the policies that are then subsequently enacted.
The Vicious Circle of Emotionally-Driven Media Engagement
We all know how reality TV works, right? Put folks with conflicting personalities, objectives and views together, film for 24hrs a day, apply pressure and repeat that single moment of drama over and over?
Guess what? Most people don’t want to see politicians from opposing sides gently agree to disagree. We are lured in by the fiery rhetoric, the well-constructed sucker punch put-down, the soundbite to play relentlessly on that day’s news cycle.
In an election, this approach can massively skew public perception and understanding of the candidates and the electoral process. So many voters think it’s battle lines, red and blue, sworn mortal enemies - just because of this style of coverage.
In any controversial example, most media would have us believe we are 50/50 at odds as a country, divided across a binary line. In truth this issue is so much about nuance - if you cut out the extreme views that are a few % on each side then 95% of America actually agree on many topics within a degree of tolerance for reasonable debate in the large middle band of what are nuanced views on complex topics.
Blurring lines between ‘entertainment’ and factual reporting can create fertile ground for misinformation and propaganda, defeating efforts to have an informed electorate and driving division across the country.
Attracting The Wrong Crowd To Participate
The 'reality TV' model encourages candidates who excel in performative, attention-grabbing tactics whether or not they have solid governance experience or expertise. In return, campaign strategies increasingly focus on viral moments rather than substantive policy proposals.
If this trend has already set a precedent influencing the nature of political campaigns, it will affect the types of candidates who garner success and thus, those who choose to run for office in the future.
Think of the many seasons of ‘Big Brother’ - the personalities and the conditions got more and more outrageous as the producers had to keep upping the ante.
We’ve already had some pretty wild candidates (not to name any particular) - what lies in wait for us in the future?
Growing Negative Perception of US Democracy
As a citizen of another country as well as the US, I see better than most of my fellow Americans how our country is perceived from the outside. The spectacle of such elections has negatively affected international views of American democracy.
Coverage of our elections abroad distills and concentrates the madness even further, which leads to (valid) questions about the seriousness with which electoral decisions are made and the overall stability of the political system.
Within the States, we’ve already seen impacts of the risk that the sensationalist approach to politics has led to voter apathy and cynicism as the electorate increasingly perceives the process as insubstantial or theatrical rather than a serious civic duty.
I anticipate even lower turnout in 2024 than the 66% who went to the ballot boxes last time around. Not only does this mean more voices aren’t being heard and represented, it lays the table all the more invitingly for extreme outcomes.
Your 2024 Election Survival Guide
This all sounds hopeless…so “what can I do!?”, I hear you cry. Here are some of the things I’ve tried to do to stay connected to my preferred version of democracy:
Go beyond the bullet points
You’re likely only going to hear the sweeping staple policies of each party. Go a step deeper to understand what the candidates really stand for. This is especially important your prospective members of congress, who provide checks and balances on the president and the legal system. You can:
See what issues are on your specific ballet, who is running and compare candidates side-by-side
Take a quiz to understand what political ideology you’re aligned with
You can arm yourself with the knowledge to know what you’re really voting for.
Choose your media diet carefully
No matter how knowledgeable you become, it’s still so easy to get sucked back into in the sensationalist media vortex.
You can choose where you put your eyes and what you scroll past or click on - put the powers of the algorithms to work for you by only clicking on the more meaningful coverage.
If you do lean one way or the other, I encourage you to push past confirmation bias and consume the other side’s news channels. US news coverage is uniquely partisan (I do miss the BBC) - rather than suffer from that, use it to your advantage to understand a broader range of views on a policy topic or candidate.
Talk to people about it
While the workplace isn’t the place for political debate, you have many other avenues to pursue for conversation and shared learning.
Talk to your friends - it’s OK (or perhaps even advantageous) to be friends with people who aren’t 100% aligned with your political views.
Online and local forums can be good places to understand and have discussion to get clarity for yourself on issues. The same as with the media points above though - stay away from the troll holes or you won’t get much out of it.
Engage in state/local elections
Go beyond the Presidential ticket to look at elections for Congress and Senate. If you look hard enough, you will often see separation here between candidates and the presidential nominee for their party.
Further than that though - engage in state and local elections. I would argue that these elected officials often have way more impact on your everyday life. The elected bodies at this level will often skew away from party lines depending on the locality and - here’s where you come in - the people and personalities that are elected.
From the White House:
“Police departments, libraries, and schools - not to mention driver’s licenses and parking tickets - usually fall under the oversight of State and local governments. Each state has its own written constitution, and these documents are often far more elaborate than their Federal counterpart.
Local government controls parks and recreation services, police and fire departments, housing services, emergency medical services, municipal courts, transportation services (including public transportation), and public works.”
As a bonus, state and local candidates are far more accessible to you. I have been able to enjoy multiple conversations with my State Senator and State Delegate just by showing up in places that they announce they’re going to be.
Get out the vote
Whatever your political persuasion, however deeply you research, the single most important thing you can do is make sure you register and get down there to the ballot box.
Democracy is something that many of those before us have fought and died for and is not a privilege that everyone in the world gets to enjoy. We should revel in our freedom to choose, however disaffected we might be by the current state of the process and the candidates.
In my first 8 years in this country as an immigrant, I had to sit on the sidelines - a frustrated bystander with no voice - as others made choices that would impact me. I fully intend to leap on my opportunity to be a part of this democracy in 2024 and encourage you to do the same.