Held on 11 October 2024, an expert workshop organized by the Albert Hirschman Centre for Democracy and the Geneva State Chancellery as part of Democracy Week focused on the processes, challenges, and practices of communication during campaigns leading up to elections and referenda.

The workshop aimed to analyse how actors from political, institutional, and media realms operated and interacted, offering both Swiss and American perspectives. Participants, which included Rodney Benson, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University, Anke Tresch, Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Lausanne, and Sebastien Salerno, Lecturer at Media Lab, University of Geneva, as well as over a dozen representatives of local Swiss institutions, addressed two central questions: What were the timing and resources (financial, technological, etc.) of communication activities before elections? What factors led to their evolution, and within which legal frameworks?

The discussion followed two main themes:

• Changes in communication culture: Who communicates, and how does communication unfold in Switzerland, the United States, and beyond ahead of votes and elections? How does technology and AI influence this communication?
• The means of communication campaigns: How are democratic rules governing communication methods defined? How have these definitions evolved, especially regarding the use of state resources?

The workshop was designed to be participatory, encouraging rich exchanges among participants from diverse institutions and professional backgrounds. Through these exchanges, the organizers sought to contribute to broader reflections on "cultivating democracy," the theme of the 2024 Democracy Week.

A related public event, also featuring Professor Rodney Benson, took place on Thursday, 10 October.