How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change

FEATURING EITAN HERSH – These days everyone with a Facebook account is a political pundit. We constantly read the latest polls, consume the sage ruminations of experts in our newspapers, and offer up defiant opinions on every issue. Scouring our Twitter newsfeeds or watching Sunday cable news shows is considered part of the civic duty of an informed electorate living in a democracy. But, my next guest calls the obsession with news consumption simply “political hobbyism” and warns that unless more Americans move beyond reading the news and complaining about politics toward grassroots political activism, our democracy is doomed.

Eitan Hersh, Associate Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. His research focuses on civic participation, US elections, and voting rights. His earlier book Hacking the Electorate focused on the use of campaign microtargeting in the Obama years. His new book is called Politics is For Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change.

**This interview was originally broadcast on March 11, 2020.