Aristotle — ancient Greek philosopher and scientist — was a progressive leader in newly discovered sciences; his writings covered physics, biology, zoology, logic, ethics, rhetoric and countless other topics. Often celebrated for his work in philosophy, Aristotle also contributed remarkable research to today’s scientific world. In connection to modern American politics, the D.C. based data and voter modeling firm Aristotle does exactly that: it reintroduces an aspect of science back into the world of political science.
Starting over 20 years ago as primarily a voter file data provider, the company’s capabilities have transformed dramatically. Their newest initiative — a partnership with Matchbox, a leading marketing data science company — allows them to use their expansive voter file to model characteristics about Americans eligible to vote.
“We’re all about staying on the cutting edge, and this is one partnership specifically that will allow our clients to do their jobs better and easier,” said Andrew Tavani, Vice President of National Sales for Aristotle. “This is something that really helps get out the vote initiatives, fundraising and voter persuasion. And we’re really excited about it.”
Looking to understand even more about voters, Matchbox’s modeling technologies will be employed to provide the most granular analysis of potential voters ever offered. It’s capabilities are best understood in looking at party affiliation. The combination of Aristotle’s voter file — a comprehensive list of people that are eligible to vote combined with information about them provided at polls — consumer demographic information, and geographic location, previously allowed them to predict which party an individual voter would cast their ballot for.
Now, the partnership with Matchbox allows them to determine this prediction numerically, on a scale of 1–100 with 100 as the strongest party affiliation. Determinants such as geographic location, issues the voters support, voting history and donations to causes help create this modeled ranking. For example, a 100/100 on the Republican scale would be someone who lives in a traditionally red district, has voted Republican their whole life, and donates to and supports conservative causes. They will always vote with their party.
