Discordant Democracy: Noise, Affect, Populism, and the Presidential Campaign

Discordant Magic: Sound, Affect and the Presidential Campaign paints a portrait of the political experience at a pivotal time in American political and social history. Through a multi-modal comparative examination of the sonic and emotional cultures of the 2008 and 2016 campaigns, Justin Patch raises critical queries about our affective relationship to modern politics and the impact of emotional campaigning on democracy. Broadly stated, Discordant Magic asks: how do campaign sounds affect us; what role do we the electorate play in creating and sustaining these sounds and affects; and what actions do they generate?