https://phys.org/science-news/political-science/ en-us The latest news on political science In her recently completed research, Dr. Gaia Romeo exposes the reality behind the EU's 'safe third country' policy. She focuses on the only case in which that policy has already been applied on a large scale: Greece. There, the concept was used to reject asylum applications and return asylum seekers under the return policy resulting from the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-safe-country-concept-shell.html Political science Sat, 11 Jul 2026 09:00:06 EDT news702738189 The justice system in England and Wales is failing to meet people's needs, with cuts to legal aid forming part of a wider pattern of declining investment and support, warns a new UCL–led report. The findings present a stark picture of a system under strain, with austerity and sustained underfunding having far-reaching consequences. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-justice-england-wales-people.html Social Sciences Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news702899581 Local newspapers serve as a vital check on public institutions, including law enforcement, according to new research from the University at Buffalo School of Management. Published in the American Journal of Criminal Justice, the study examines the societal cost of the ongoing decline in local journalism, including its impact on the accountability of local police agencies to the public and the integrity of data reported by law enforcement and related officials, such as medical examiners and coroners. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-links-newspaper-closures-distorted-crime.html Social Sciences Fri, 10 Jul 2026 11:20:07 EDT news702896941 A joint research team led by Professor Narae Lee from the School of Business and Technology Management at KAIST, in collaboration with Professor Heli Wang from Singapore Management University (SMU), analyzed immigration-related legislation and environmental data across the United States and found that when immigration becomes a central political agenda, government environmental oversight weakens and firms' toxic chemical releases increase. The research team describes this phenomenon as "institutional crowding." https://phys.org/news/2026-07-politically-salient-immigration-issues-higher.html Social Sciences Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:40:01 EDT news702888164 The University of Barcelona participated in a study that uses an unexpected change of government in Spain—the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) defeated the PP, against the odds, in the March 2004 general election—to examine whether changes in economic expectations affected births, abortions and marriages. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-economic-political-polarization-fertility-marriages.html Social Sciences Wed, 08 Jul 2026 20:00:01 EDT news702721543 When millions of people fled Ukraine following Russia's invasion in 2022, governments and humanitarian organizations used mobile phone and online platform data to track movements and identify where support was needed. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-digital-migration.html Political science Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news702734762 Psychedelic drugs are known to make people highly sensitive to their surroundings. In other words, a user's mindset and immediate environment heavily shape the entire trippy experience. In a study published in the journal Psychedelic Medicine, scientists wanted to test a brand-new idea: whether an invisible backdrop of national culture, rather than just a person's local setting, could influence people's support for partisan violence after taking a psychedelic. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fourth-july-celebrations-national-political.html Social Sciences Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:30:01 EDT news702737327 A new mathematical model suggests that social norms may be just as important as economics in determining how the world responds to climate change. The research shows that efforts to reduce emissions in one region can unintentionally influence climate action elsewhere, with consequences that could either strengthen or weaken global progress. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-social-norms-undermine-climate-action.html Social Sciences Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:00:12 EDT news702721970 Research from the University of St. Andrews is challenging conventional assumptions about the relationship between politics and entrepreneurship. The study explored whether the political environment in which people live influences their likelihood of starting a business, and its findings reveal that areas with predominantly left-leaning political views have the highest rates of business creation, while areas with stronger right-wing political affiliations record the lowest. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-entrepreneurs-based-left-wing-areas.html Economics & Business Mon, 06 Jul 2026 07:20:03 EDT news702538542 When analyzing crime, the foreign population typically shows higher rates than the native population. However, crime statistics change significantly when comparing groups of the same age and gender. A detailed data analysis conducted in a study by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) demonstrates that the apparent crime gap between the foreign and native populations is primarily due to the fact that the immigrant profile tends to concentrate more young men—the demographic sector with the highest crime rates in any society. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spain-million-convictions-immigration-crime.html Social Sciences Sun, 05 Jul 2026 07:00:01 EDT news702217633 A new ancient DNA study published in Science Advances provides evidence that political power among Scythian elites may have been inherited through family lineages that extended across multiple burial sites. By combining archaeology, anthropology and genetics, the new study offers fresh insight into how social inequality and political authority developed among ancient nomadic societies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-newfound-family-link-scythian-elite.html Archaeology Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:00:09 EDT news702200941 Net overseas migration is declining. It peaked in 2023, and as of mid-2026 it has dropped by 45%. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-migration-climbing.html Political science Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:40:05 EDT news702210309 New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is known for targeting immigrants with inflammatory comments about their place in their new country. He made headlines last year when he urged immigrants who "come here with their ideas, foreign to our country" to "show some gratitude." https://phys.org/news/2026-07-gratitude-rhetoric-views-immigration-migrants.html Social Sciences Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:00:03 EDT news702208201 Immigrant workers protected by a key humanitarian status make significant contributions to New York state's economy and communities, according to new Cornell University research. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-temporary-status-workers-play-critical.html Economics & Business Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:00:05 EDT news702188401 They knew their gesture was futile and could have serious personal repercussions, but that didn't stop more than 1.5 million Russians from signing anti-war petitions after their country invaded Ukraine. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-war-paradox-pressure-petitions.html Social Sciences Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:40:01 EDT news702117353 AI-generated impersonations of political figures are judged by members of the public to be more authentic, relevant and coherent than the speakers' actual debate responses, according to a study appearing in PLOS One, written by Steffen Herbold of the University of Passau in Germany, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ai-generated-debate-outscore-real.html Social Sciences Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:00:18 EDT news702049502 A chatbot can reduce prejudice against trans people—at least temporarily. Prejudice toward marginalized groups can be reduced through storytelling and empathetic, one-on-one conversations. Prior work has shown that these approaches are especially effective when paired with moral matching, or tailoring messages to reflect an individual's core values. However, such interventions are time-intensive and difficult to scale. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ai-persuasive-case-trans-rights.html Social Sciences Tue, 30 Jun 2026 13:00:06 EDT news702031322 Parole candidates may be evaluated more favorably when they discuss their crimes using cultural frames more common among White Americans than among Black, Hispanic and East Asian Americans, according to a study. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cultural-frameworks-contribute-racial-differences.html Social Sciences Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:40:05 EDT news702031081 With Canada Day almost upon us, some new Canadians will celebrate in nationwide citizenship ceremonies—but countless migrants are facing the reality that they may never reach that milestone. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-shattered-canada-day-broken-immigration.html Social Sciences Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:20:15 EDT news702030301 Australia has spent much of the past two years responding to anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate as separate problems. But our latest research suggests they have something important in common. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-million-online-persistent-antijew-antimuslim.html Social Sciences Tue, 30 Jun 2026 09:00:06 EDT news702019622 The recent Israeli–United States war with Iran sent oil prices soaring worldwide, and Canada was no exception. In some regions, gasoline passed $2 per liter. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-oil-price-exposed-cardependent-cities.html Political science Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:20:07 EDT news701952782 The study, by researchers Chase Foster (King's College London) and Jeffry Frieden (Columbia University), analyzed 134 national elections in 16 countries between 1990 and 2021, alongside data from 11 waves of the European Social Survey. The research is published in the journal European Union Politics. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-unemployment-welfare-curb-populism.html Economics & Business Sun, 28 Jun 2026 12:30:02 EDT news701691227 In Estonian schools, social studies classes provide a thorough education on what democracy is and what it means to be a citizen. However, knowledge alone is not enough to foster active citizenship or reduce the differences in civic skills between Estonian- and Russian-speaking young people. A doctoral thesis by Nikolai Kunitsõn, a political scientist at Tallinn University, shows that participatory theater can bridge this gap. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-participatory-theater-young-people-citizens.html Education Fri, 26 Jun 2026 23:20:01 EDT news701690993 Investigative interviewing—the process of obtaining accurate and complete accounts from victims, witnesses and suspects—is the lifeblood of the criminal justice system. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-key-crimes-ai-police-inquiries.html Political science Fri, 26 Jun 2026 21:20:01 EDT news701691009 Artificial intelligence is being adopted across policing and the wider criminal justice system of England and Wales faster than the rules designed to govern it, according to major new research published by Northumbria University. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ai-policing-safeguards.html Political science Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:40:05 EDT news701609133 When people think of workplace segregation, they usually think of race or gender. Yet Americans are also sorted at work by something employers rarely measure: how they vote. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-politics-door-workplaces.html Economics & Business Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:40:06 EDT news701609214 A major new study has raised concerns about how domestic violence and abuse is understood and responded to within children's services. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-rethink-domestic-abuse-responses-children.html Social Sciences Thu, 25 Jun 2026 12:00:01 EDT news701599501 Could the precise architectural form of your residence influence how much you participate in politics? A new study by MIT scholars finds this to be exactly the case—at least in Accra, Ghana, where many people live in semi-communal structures known as "compound houses," often sharing kitchens, bathrooms and common living-room spaces, while having private bedrooms. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-semi-communal-compound-houses-ghana.html Social Sciences Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:00:01 EDT news701595197 A study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now sheds light, for the first time, on the carbon intensity of household consumption across much of the world—and thus on the distributional impact of climate policy, which, after all, makes carbon more expensive. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-fair-climate-action-countries-billion.html Economics & Business Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:00:05 EDT news701594821 At the end of every presidential term, the End of Term Web Archive preserves that administration's web presence as a vast trove of documents and webpages. The archive began in 2008, with George W. Bush's second term, and runs through 2024, collecting images, text, graphs, redacted pages and other media. So while it contains important public information, finding that information in the glut can prove difficult. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-web-archive-easily-millions-documents.html Political science Wed, 24 Jun 2026 19:10:04 EDT news701539021