Prof. Daniel Jackson
Professor of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University, UK.
Prof. Andrea Carson
Professor of Political Communication at La Trobe University, Australia.
Dr. Danielle Sarver Coombs
Associate Professor at
Ravensbourne University, London.
Prof. Stephanie Edgerly
Professor and Associate Dean of Research at Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern University.
Prof. Einar Thorsen
Executive Dean of the Faculty of Media and Communication, Professor of Journalism and Communication at Bournemouth University, UK.
Dr. Filippo Trevisan
Associate Dean and Associate Professor at American University’s School of Communication.
Prof. Scott Wright
Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Media and Communication and Professor of Political Communication and Journalism, UK.
The 2024 U.S. presidential election was a fiercely contested, high drama affair, marked by multiple assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump, the resignation of the presumptive Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden, and the historic rise of Vice President Kamala Harris as the first woman of Black and South Asian heritage to be the nominee of a major U.S. party.
For academics, journalists, and everyday pundits there were many talking points from pressing issues like abortion, taxes, cost of living pressures, and immigration.
Beyond these policy debates, the campaign itself was a fundraising frenzy, with billions of dollars spent on advertising and grassroots efforts, alongside fierce competition to control the message across digital platforms, podcasts, and other communicative spaces. Hyperpartisan media, misinformation, disinformation and the use of artificial intelligence tools also played a role in campaign communications.
The result was a remarkable political comeback, with Donald Trump being the first President since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win a non-consecutive presidential term. Trump, like his predecessor George W. Bush in 2004, also won the popular vote, electoral college, and control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Also remarkable in this election was the political ascendency of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate. During the campaign (and before) his populist appeals have targeted many including the LGBTQ+ community. Another attack, pertinent to this collective, is his hostility towards academia. In a 2021 speech to the National Conservatism Conference, Vance quoted President Richard Nixon’s line that “professors are the enemy.”
In that spirit, we bring together leading academics in the U.S. and beyond, to provide readers with in-depth analysis of the key issues, campaign dynamics, and consequences of the 2024 election. Divided into seven sections, we again turn to a diverse mix of world-leading experts and early career researchers to explore the campaign’s major themes, the result, and what Trump’s remarkable comeback might mean for the future of American politics and the world.
Section 1, titled “Democracy at Stake,” explores the critical question of whether Trump poses a threat to democracy as we know it underpinned by trusted institutions, civil public discourse, and a rules-based order. The section explores Trump’s propensity to lie, unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, and conspiracy theories. It also examines public policy implications in light of his unusually close ties with billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk.
In Section 2 we turn to “Policy and the political context.” It includes analysis on U.S. domestic and international issues. It examines issues that divide Americans such as abortion, guns, and environmental policies. This section delves into America’s place in the world and what a Trump victory might look like for the war in Ukraine, Russia, and more broadly, international security.
The focus is on “Voters” in Section 3. Here, we discuss polls and voting trends across key demographics including gender, youth, rural, Black, Hispanic, and independent voters.
Section 4 delves into “Candidates and the campaign.” We turn our attention to celebrity endorsements like pop singer Charli XCX’s appeal to Gen Z voters by calling Kamala Harris “brat.” Contributors reflect on the Democratic nominee’s strategy, the Harris vs. Trump televised debate, the role of disinformation, the ground wars, and the influence of political advertising.
“News and journalism” were particularly challenged in 2024. Section 5 examines the controversial silence of some newspapers on presidential endorsements and the challenges of pro-democracy journalism. It discusses media ownership and power. The section probes questions about the moral leadership of the media, its partisanship, and if there is a case to be made for happy election news.
From mainstream media, we move to the “Digital campaign” in Section 6. The fragmented social media landscape is explored broadly with attention to prejudice and priming in the online political sphere, but also more specifically with articles on individual platforms including Meta’s threads, TikTok, Facebook, and X. The use of AI in the campaign is considered, especially its role in voter suppression, along with other campaign activities including a discussion on how human-like is AI-generated social media content? A popular topic in the section is political memes.
Section 7 dedicated to “Popular culture” concludes the volume. It continues a discussion on memes and returns to the centrality of Elon Musk in the 2024 campaign. It looks at how gendered stereotypes are perpetuated in political comedy such as the appearance of Harris on Saturday Night Live, but also the “manosphere” with Trump’s strategic use of podcasts that attract large audiences of men such as the Joe Rogan Experience.
Published within ten days of the result, this unique volume is designed to bring together informed contributions that are short and accessible. The authors draw on a range of methods to bring authoritative analysis – including early research findings and new theoretical insights – to offer readers new ways of understanding and thinking about the 2024 election and its implications for the future or democracy. Our contributors span disciplines from media and communication studies to political science, cultural studies, geography, and psychology. We hope this makes for an engaging and thought-provoking read to better understand the campaign dynamics and result of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and demonstrates the important role of universities in transmitting knowledge for all.