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Introduction Nathaniel G. Pearlman The written coverage of political technology—a discipline that has occupied my attention for two and a half decades—is rarely deep or insightful. For the most part, I have read about the same few highlights: either the horse-race drama of online fundraising or the romanticized accounts of the application of specific innovations, such as mobile devi- ces or social networking, to electioneering. Occasionally I come across a thin article about microtargeting models or national voter files. To partially remedy the deficit in existing accounts of the political technology revolution in progress, I have brought together some of the leading practitioners of political technology to describe the state of the art in their areas of expertise. I have come to know these contributors— either first-hand or by reputation—as a consequence of my own long his- tory in the political software business or as a result of my stint as chief technology officer for the Hillary Clinton for President campaign. I have asked each contributor to put into historical context the innovations he or she has witnessed, employed, or created. I have also suggested that the contributors try to make some guesses about the future. I have under- taken this enterprise because I think that the developments in political technology should be interesting and meaningful to those who care about the functioning of our democracy.