This special issue of the European Journal of American Studies
examines the popularization of electoral politics during the 2016 U.S.
Presidential Election. The popularization processes include the rise of
populism penetrating the U.S. political landscape; a media focus on
human interest, rather than policy substance questions; personality
politics and celebrity culture at the center stage of the election; and
the appropriation and dissemination of popular culture discourses by
social media users. The articles draw from transdisciplinary American
Studies approaches to tackle a range of issues which arose during the
election, from contestations of “American-ness” and competing narratives
of truth—or “post-truth”—to questions of campaign finance and displays
of violence, verbal and physical. The issue also takes a closer look at
specific expressions of popular culture as reflected in the media,
specifically in relation to the rise of nativism and the alt-right
movement, the political impact of comedy on the election, and the
significance of memes in the battle over image and meaning-making. The
processes of popularizing electoral politics of the 2016 race had
distinct consequences, not only in shaping political culture as we know
it, but also in destabilizing established rules of political conduct.