https://phys.org/science-news/political-science/ en-us The latest news on political science For several years now, the radicalization of young people has been making headlines. This phenomenon can be linked to the far-right movement, as we saw on May 30 in Shawinigan during a demonstration calling for a "White Québec," or revolve around other forms of radicalism, including Islamist movements. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-radicalization-policies-burden-muslim-mothers.html Social Sciences Thu, 11 Jun 2026 15:20:02 EDT news700399682 With the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicking off, millions of soccer fans around the world will be following the tournament taking place across 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-municipal-fifa-town.html Economics & Business Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:40:01 EDT news700394762 Global migration has risen sharply from approximately 13 million people per year in 2000 to around 35 million people per year in 2023. This is according to a new dataset on human migration published in Nature by researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), IIASA and the University of Hong Kong. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-annual-global-migration-tripled-reshaping.html Social Sciences Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:40:04 EDT news700323661 Since January 2025, the Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement. A key rationale for the policy is that it will open up jobs for Americans by reducing competition from undocumented immigrants. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ice-surges-triggered-massive-job.html Economics & Business Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:00:01 EDT news700314662 If the drug trade has helped define the modern Mexican state, writes the author of a new article in The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs, so too have wars on drugs. In "From Bandit Hunting to a War Against 'Social Poisoners': Counterinsurgency as Drug War and Drug War as Counterinsurgency in 1960s–1970s Southern Mexico," author Alexander Aviña argues that the strategies eventually employed against Mexican drug traders were first developed in the violent suppression of rural guerrilla movements. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-war-drugs-poor-bandit-mexico.html Social Sciences Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:20:02 EDT news700287362 In recent years, anti-immigration sentiment has become increasingly common around the world. A common concern surrounding immigration is its potential impact on the host country's welfare system, including health care. Such concerns can reduce public support for accepting immigrants and for redistributive welfare policies. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-health-native-immigrants.html Social Sciences Tue, 09 Jun 2026 22:00:02 EDT news700215634 A Stanford team used geospatial data and detection algorithms to achieve a tenfold increase in rescues from modern slavery in the Brazilian Amazon. Now, they are planning to expand their approach. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-satellite-reveal-hidden-labor-trafficking.html Social Sciences Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:00:03 EDT news700215777 Users who participate in online communities linked to conspiracy theories show distinctive linguistic characteristics even when discussing apparently neutral topics, such as films, music, cooking or science, and even before they take part in conspiracy communities. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-distinctive-language-reveals-conspiracy-community.html Social Sciences Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:40:07 EDT news700232068 Japan is experiencing historically high numbers of foreigners. Its population is shrinking, and its workforce is aging, driving foreign labor to historic levels. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-japan-popularity-booms-survey-strong.html Social Sciences Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:20:02 EDT news700223642 The number of conflicts between states continued to increase sharply in 2025 and has now reached the highest level since World War II. At the same time, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) at Uppsala University registered a record total number of armed conflicts. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-conflicts-states-highest-world-war.html Social Sciences Tue, 09 Jun 2026 03:00:01 EDT news700132484 A national report co-authored by a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa sociologist has found that while the humanities and social sciences continue to produce rigorous and valuable scholarship, some disciplines are experiencing instances where scholarly standards have been compromised as political considerations shape research and academic evaluation. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-politicization-humanities-scholarship-compromise-scholarly.html Education Mon, 08 Jun 2026 21:40:04 EDT news700149362 A new study by Mannheim Business Administration professor Hartmut Höhle examines the reactions of actual victims of the Cambridge Analytica scandal on Facebook over a longer period. Its key finding is that, despite being affected by data fraud, users remain on the platform. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-facebook-users-affected-breaches-react.html Social Sciences Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:00:06 EDT news700133208 As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary amid deep political division, a major new bipartisan report aims to get consensus on a fundamental question: How are we really doing as a country? The new "State of the States" report, released by the State of the Nation Project at Tulane University, has analyzed more than three decades of data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, to provide a long-term progress report for each state. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-americans-struggles-deep-political-bipartisan.html Political science Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:02 EDT news699808955 "Japanese Migration to Canada, 1877–1988," a new reference essay by Masumi Izumi, was published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Migration Studies. The article offers a sweeping, deeply researched account of Japanese migration to Canada from the arrival of the first documented migrant in 1877 through the Canadian government's formal redress settlement of 1988. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-transnational-history-explores-japanese-migration.html Social Sciences Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:00:01 EDT news699872878 A new analysis of approximately 600,000 research papers reveals structural limits to single-country security oversight of dual-use research and identifies trade-offs that policymakers face when strengthening such oversight. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-dual-outgrow-national-oversight-analysis.html Education Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:20:02 EDT news699878822 "Digital authoritarianism" refers to governments using technology for surveillance and censorship to repress dissent. China remains the master practitioner. There, sweeping surveillance and censorship at home is combined with cyber-espionage and disinformation, censorship and influence campaigns abroad. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-exporting-spyware-surveilling-activists-democracies.html Political science Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:00:05 EDT news699859022 When researchers founded Anthropic in 2021, they said the race to build powerful AI was moving too recklessly. They inserted detailed safety measures into their products and marketed their commitment to safety as the corporate quality that distinguished them from competitors—notably OpenAI, the rival company they had left. In March 2026, that reputation was tested when the Trump administration declared that Anthropic was a supply chain risk. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-oversight-coercion-authoritarian-ai-safety.html Political science Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:00:03 EDT news699795686 Users tend to trust artificial intelligence (AI)-powered fact-checkers as much as human fact-checkers, but for different reasons, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. The researchers said there is no definitive "winner" when comparing the two fact-checking systems, because users see distinct strengths and weaknesses in each. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-users-ai-human-fact-checkers.html Social Sciences Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:00:03 EDT news699795362 It's been roughly six years since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked a global conversation about anti-Black police violence and the excessive use of police force against Black and Indigenous communities. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-unfinished-reckoning-police-violence-community.html Political science Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:40:08 EDT news699784201 A defendant stands in the dock. An expert describes them as a "psychopath." In an instant, one word threatens to eclipse their history, circumstances and the crime itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-psychopath-dangerous-criminal-justice.html Social Sciences Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:00:05 EDT news699722521 Affective polarization—i.e., an aversion toward supporters of the opposing party—has been shaping American society for years, including when it comes to finding a partner. A new sociological study by Dr. Ansgar Hudde and Shannon Taflinger from the University of Cologne's Department of Sociology and Social Psychology dives deeper into this phenomenon, examining how political information on a dating profile influences the romantic interest of young Americans. The study was published under the title "Why do young U.S. Americans avoid cross-partisan dating? A closer look at mediators and variation by gender and party" in the journal European Sociological Review. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-political-cues-dating-decisions-party.html Social Sciences Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:40:01 EDT news699711588 In American politics, cursing and "four-letter words" are no longer confined to hot mics or hidden behind closed doors. Politicians and pundits are increasingly using so-called "bad words" in speeches, social media posts and campaign ads. Benjamin Bergen, professor of cognitive science, and Pamela Ban, associate professor of political science, both from UC San Diego's School of Social Sciences, examine why swearing among politicians is on the rise and what it reveals about persuasion, emotion and modern public discourse. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-qa-experts-discuss-profanity-politicians.html Political science Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:20:02 EDT news699701882 As U.S. cities prepare to host the FIFA World Cup, familiar warnings about human trafficking "spikes" at major sporting events have reemerged. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-world-cup-human-trafficking-reveals.html Social Sciences Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:00:07 EDT news699624061 Climate change is contributing to the escalation of existing local conflicts in Africa. A new WZB study by Ruud Koopmans, Daniel Meierrieks, and Daniel Tuki uses the example of pastoralist conflict between nomadic herders (mainly Muslim Fulani) and sedentary farmers in Nigeria to show how droughts triggered by climate change exacerbate existing religious conflicts. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-climate-exacerbates-religious-conflicts.html Social Sciences Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:20:02 EDT news699619861 As voters are increasingly asked to decide complex health policy questions at the ballot box, new research from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis finds that health care-related ballot measures draw more voters to the polls and are more likely to pass than other initiatives—but they're also especially sensitive to opposition spending by special-interest groups. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-health-ballot.html Political science Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:00:03 EDT news699601502 A large, nationally representative survey of U.S. adults finds that support for, and willingness to engage in, political violence remained largely stable from mid-2024 to mid-2025, despite a highly contentious national election and ongoing political polarization, according to a study published in Injury Epidemiology. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-survey-shift-americans-views-political.html Social Sciences Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:00:02 EDT news699593641 The period between 2018 and 2022, sometimes referred to as "the rainbow wave," featured an unprecedented increase in LGBTQ candidates elected to office. Pete Buttigieg's rise from mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to U.S. secretary of transportation with a 2020 bid for president in between sparked a national dialogue about whether gay candidates no longer faced an electoral penalty at the ballot box. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-voters-gay-candidates-straight.html Political science Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:40:03 EDT news699544562 Legal reforms designed to curb the abusive use of "SLAPPs" are insufficient to stop the rich and powerful trying to block freedom of speech, a new study warns. Measures in the U.S., U.K. and the EU to stop strategic lawsuits against public participation do not address the deep-seated inadequacies in the law which have a chilling effect on journalists and whistleblowers, the research says. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-legal-reforms-abusive-slapps-chilling.html Social Sciences Sun, 31 May 2026 12:00:01 EDT news699106322 New research shows that people released from prison are significantly less likely to reoffend if they are subject to supervision and other license requirements—especially first-time prisoners. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-conditions-reoffending-prisoners.html Political science Sat, 30 May 2026 18:30:03 EDT news699106201 From satellite imagery to clandestine price reports, a new study draws on North Korea to explore economic activity in opaque regimes and information-scarce regions. North Korea is the blackest of economic black holes. Even a basic question like "is the economy shrinking or expanding?" can be difficult to answer. The country does not publish reliable statistics. It sharply restricts outside access and treats trade data as a state secret. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-world-economic-black-holes-leak.html Economics & Business Fri, 29 May 2026 23:00:01 EDT news699268549