Long Tails in politics

The Long Tail theory has been applied to politics before.

It has been suggested that political parties and politicians can use the internet to 'tap in' to the Long Tail of voters, garnering more support (and funding) in the process.

The experience of Barack Obama's campaign for the US presidency was that adding up all the smaller donations from the 'tail' of supporters raised as much, if not more, money as might previously have come from focusing on the smaller number of high-end donors.

But this is to miss the most important application of the Long Tail theory to politics.

It is not the ability to raise dollars from donors to which it most fundamentally applies, but the views of voters themselves.

Why is it that the complex views of millions of voters can only find expression in a handful of party manifestos and policy platforms?

In the world of business, Anderson says, the cost of reaching the niches is falling. The internet makes them easier to find and therefore 'hits' become proportionately less popular.

Demand, he argues, is "as diverse as the population itself" – and the same variety certainly applies to political points of view.

But the traditional 'hits' of the political world – Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the UK, Democrats and Republicans in the US – have benefited from a political structure that forces voters towards them, in just the same way that traditional retailing pushed consumers towards the biggest-selling movies, albums or books.

The impact of the internet is to make it easier for like-minded individuals to find their own alternative niches, to cluster together outside the confines of traditional parties.

The huge number of votes for 'others' and the recent successes of the Pirate Party may be indications of this already starting to happen as much as reactions to specific policy issues.

Anderson argues that in a world without physical constraints, "narrowly targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare".

And similarly, why would voters increasingly accustomed to making niche choices about their purchases as consumers continue to make such major compromises on their personal beliefs as citizens in order to support one of the established parties?