Political Psychology Books

Meg Ahern is a social and behavior change expert working in international development, and author of the new guide, The Science of Influence: Harnessing Neuroscience and the Social Sciences for Effective Democratic Campaigns. She focused her dissertation at Michigan on the role of emotion and social context in perception, cognition and memory, and did her postdoc in the sociology of knowledge at The University of Chicago.

It’s tough for any political consultant to stop ruminating on the questions that have plagued progressives since the 2016 election. How could anyone have voted for Trump? Why did people care so much about Hillary Clinton’s emails? How can Republicans in Congress be so spineless? Why would anyone believe a fake news story? Political consultants can find solace in knowing that psychology has explanations for these phenomena. As we dive into campaign plans to persuade voters in November, here are some big takeaways from the psychology books every political consultant should read.