What politicians in Europe can learn from the elections in the USA
Here we are. I’m writing a blog post about politics. Potentially the most dangerous topic you can tackle nowadays. It might be safer to stick to the future of mobility or food but well, this one had to be shared.
The past weeks sure have been a rollercoaster in the USA. By now, it is clear that Biden has won the presidency and that Donald Trump is on his way out. At the same time, 52% of republican voters is still convinced that Trump rightfully won because of widespread voter fraud. Apart from showing a deep divide in the US, it shows a worrying trend: the impact of traditional media is zero to none on a considerable part of the population.
At the same time, closer to home in the UK, cell phone towers have been set on fire due to a covid19- 5G conspiracy theory. In the Netherlands, a prominent political figure believes that Covid19 was created by George Soros and others to limit our freedom and start a new form of world dominance.
What worries me here, is not the fact that these conspiracy theories are being created, it’s the fact that it’s so easy for them to gain traction. The more traditional media outlets are trying to debunk them, the more they are spreading. And when the non-traditional media outlets like Twitter or Facebook try to crack down on this misinformation, believers just move to another platform like Parler, effectively creating “an alternative reality”.
There’s a lot of discussion about freedom of speech on these platforms but that is hardly the problem. The real problem is the lack of trust from people in politicians, media outlets and scientists. Asked in 2019 about whether most elected politicians in Europe care about what people think, a significant part of respondents disagreed. And that’s the challenge: people simply think politicians don’t care.
It’s not necessarily that politicians nowadays are doing a bad job, it’s that they are not capable of communicating effectively and efficiently with the population. Something that Donald Trump is mastering very well. If mainstream politicians don’t adapt their playbook now, more and more Europeans will vote for extremes, thus making our democracies almost impossible to maintain.
Here are some lessons Europe should take away from the elections in the USA
- Use the media people are relying on: Tiktok and Discord are the new heroes in town. It’s nice to do that interview on national television but it has no use if 70% of your population doesn’t watch it. Ever considered an AMA on Reddit? This might be the time. Publish your own memes on 9gag? Go for it! Get out of your office and learn to speak the language of the people you work for.
- Use other media formats: Press releases and briefings are pretty much technology from the nineties. A short message on Twitter or other social media has more impact and can reach more people. Does that mean ditching press releases? Of course not, just understand that the majority of people doesn’t care about them.
- Pull the same rope: You’ve made a coalition with another party? Good job, this is where the real work starts. Communicate together and always make sure everybody has the same understanding about what has been agreed. Imagine a joint venture where party A and party B have a different understanding about the agreement, that’s exactly how your government looks like when everybody tells a different story. Needless to say it makes you an easy target for your opponents.
- Offer perspective: Back in 2016, Donald Trump promised coal workers to keep the mines open. While the democrats knew that coal was already dead by that time, they did not dare to tell the truth because they were afraid of losing these voters. Suffice to say that not communicating and not offering perspective lead to exactly that. Explain why some things are not realistic and what you’re going to do about it.
- Do not blame other governing levels for problems: This might be a very important one. How credible are you really if you blame the EU, a city counsel, or another government for your own country’s misery if you are part of these management bodies yourself? Steve Jobs was once quoted saying “If the user is having a problem, it’s our problem”. This couldn’t be truer and it’s the reason why Apple can sell a slightly better iPhone each year for 1300 EUR and you cannot even defend a 5 EUR tax raise.
- Cooperate over party lines: If the US is showing us one thing, it’s that we don’t need two parties that are working against each other, taking turns into governing and undoing what the other has done before them. You’re in the opposition but you like an idea from the majority? Support it! You’re part of a government but the opposition has an amendment that you think is worth exploring? Support it!
- Show empathy and try to understand what drives people: It would be plain stupid to think that all people who voted for Donald Trump are racist, anti-social and love to show off their guns. All over Europe, far right and far left parties are becoming more and more successful. Instead of blaming racism or ignorance for their success, look for the real reasons people vote for these parties. The Yellow Vests in France might be a good indicator: there are simply too much people who have the feeling nobody is listening to them. That brings us back to the beginning: a lack of trust in the government.
It’s quite a long list I’m publishing here but quite honestly, I shouldn’t have to do this. Everything I listed here, is what companies are already doing today. Research in the US from the beginning of the year showed that Americans trust Amazon and Google more than the police or the government.
We might not be at that point in Europe yet — I couldn’t find a study that states the same- but politicians seriously have to step up their game. No more time to waste.
