SimPolitics: How America Tried to Solve Politics with Computers

New open access book on history of computers and politics

I trace the six-decade history of efforts to simulate politics using computers, from the 1960s to the late 1980s. My research reveals how programmers and political scientists built models to win elections and predict global conflicts. This book exposes the long-standing promise that technology can fix our political systems, urging us to critically examine current claims about AI and governance.

"SimPolitics is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how computers have shaped our political imagination—and our democracy."