https://phys.org/science-news/political-science/ en-us The latest news on political science Artificial intelligence is no longer just a technology-sector issue. It's transforming how public services are organized and delivered, including settlement services for immigrants and newcomers in Canada. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-canada-settlement-digital-ai-workers.html Economics & Business Fri, 09 Oct 2026 10:00:11 EDT news710754602 Turning people into frogs—and back into princes—is the stuff of fairy tales. But back in January 2026, this fate befell a Heber City, Utah, police officer when AI accidentally cast the spell. Transcription software picked up the dialogue from "The Princess and the Frog" playing at the scene where the police encounter was unfolding. When AI software used the recording to draft the report, it mistook the movie dialogue for part of the encounter and claimed the officer had turned into a frog while on duty. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-bodycam-footage-text-speakers.html Political science Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:00:01 EDT news710753583 The Center for the Creator Economy at Syracuse University—the nation's first academic center dedicated to the advancement of interdisciplinary academics, independent research, policy engagement and support for creator-based ventures—today released the findings from its inaugural industry Flash Report. Published monthly, these reports examine the issues creators, brands and audiences are talking about right now. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-youtube-tv-source-political-news.html Social Sciences Fri, 09 Oct 2026 07:40:05 EDT news710747281 A new study led by Flinders University finds both autistic and nonautistic suspects may be judged more harshly if any idiosyncratic behaviors in interviews stray beyond what observers consider normal. The research also undermines the widely held perspective—referred to as the "double empathy hypothesis"—that autistic people can better "read" differing intentions and motivations in other autistic people than nonautistic people can. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-autistic-disadvantaged-forensic.html Social Sciences Fri, 09 Oct 2026 07:00:01 EDT news710739542 How can AI provide police officers with better support in complex situations? In an interdisciplinary collaboration, researchers in police research and computing science at Umeå University have explored the opportunities and risks associated with using AI-based interactive systems in police work. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-reality-police.html Social Sciences Thu, 08 Oct 2026 22:00:01 EDT news710670397 The University of Virginia has published the Global Capitalism Index (GCI), a first-in-kind data set offering unprecedented insights into the globe's capitalism conditions in every country. Assembled from more than two hundred data sets across eight key pillars, the GCI's country-by-country scores offer an array of ways to understand capitalism around the world. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-kind-reveals-insights-world-national.html Economics & Business Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:00:06 EDT news710595132 Most Michigan city and township officials report positive or neutral impacts from recent state election administration reforms, but many cite the costs and staffing demands associated with nine days of early in-person voting as a concern, according to a new University of Michigan survey. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-small-michigan-communities-early-voting.html Political science Wed, 07 Oct 2026 15:20:06 EDT news710592601 Most voters see Congress through floor debates, campaign promises and partisan conflict. Yet about half the work done by the average congressional office involves helping constituents, businesses, nonprofits, universities and local governments navigate federal agencies. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-voters-incumbents-complicates-case-congressional.html Political science Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:40:05 EDT news710591882 Public health strategies that helped reduce cigarette smoking in the United States could provide a model for reducing the appeal and use of firearms, particularly handguns, according to a new paper from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-health-strategies-cigarettes-appeal-firearms.html Political science Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:00:17 EDT news710588581 Adding LED lights to illuminate crime hot spots throughout the city of Newark reduced violent crime by nearly 46% and burglaries by 58%, according to new research from Rutgers University–Newark published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-brighter-street-violent-crime.html Social Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:11 EDT news710582882 Artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to create convincing fake political content and harder to tell what's real. Now, a University of Missouri expert is helping voters navigate that changing information landscape ahead of this year's midterm elections. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-expert-voters-political-deepfakes.html Political science Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:40:02 EDT news710505601 As voters seeking information about political issues increasingly turn to LLMs to do research, will AI lead them astray with hallucinations and bias, distorting the democratic process? Maybe not, according to a study of AI use in the 2024 U.K. election, published in PNAS Nexus. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-chatbots-accurate-political-knowledge.html Political science Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:40:01 EDT news710493902 Much of the field of sociology treats systemic racism as its default explanation for racial disparities rather than as an open question that requires further investigation and evidence, according to a recent position paper. The assumptions and moralization surrounding the origins of race-based disparities have undermined the discipline and made it difficult—and professionally costly—to challenge the concept, says author Ilana Redstone, a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-exploring-racism-default-explanation-disparities.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 22:20:02 EDT news710435281 Why does the expansion of wind energy sometimes meet with local resistance, even though renewable energy generally enjoys broad support? RIFS researcher Jörg Radtke used a representative survey of 6,284 people in North Rhine-Westphalia to investigate which social characteristics are linked to the acceptance of wind energy. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-political-emerge-key-factors-local.html Economics & Business Mon, 05 Oct 2026 20:20:02 EDT news710429882 CSI may have spawned innumerable spinoffs, but it turns out you can't trust TV—or sniffer dogs. New research is questioning the scientific basis for the dogs' use by police, as well as aspects of bloodstain pattern analysis and ballistics evidence routinely used in courts. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-sniffer-dogs-bloodstain-patterns-ballistics.html Political science Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:40:07 EDT news710422022 A year or so after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the city of Murmansk in Russia's Arctic northwest marked its annual regional day with a celebration for children. Alongside the sons and daughters of Russian soldiers stood children taken from the occupied Prymorskyi district of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-russia-ukraine-children-occupation-wider.html Political science Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:20:01 EDT news710417641 Almost every ceremonial object or ornament of the medieval papal monarchy has disappeared or lost its original purpose. Yet one survives: the golden rose. On Sept. 26, 2026, during Pope Leo XIV's visit to France, he traveled to Lourdes, home to one of the world's most famous shrines to the Virgin Mary. After praying, Leo presented a golden rose to Our Lady of Lourdes—the fifth time he has dedicated a rose to a Marian shrine or image. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-recipients-golden-roses-centuries-evolving.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:40:01 EDT news710414882 The 2026 U.S. midterm campaigns are the first in which AI-generated political ads are regularly appearing on people's televisions and social media feeds. We are researchers who have been studying political advertising through the Wesleyan Media Project since 2010. This election cycle—using data from media reports, student coders and AdImpact, a firm that tracks political ad spending—we've tracked about $80 million in spending on almost 170 unique ads that use AI. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tracking-uncovers-million-spent-ai.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:20:11 EDT news710414581 A new study led by an academic staff member from the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka has analyzed trust between police and ethnic minorities in Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States, revealing meaningful similarities between Māori and Black Americans. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-international-ethnic-minorities-police.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:00:06 EDT news710407261 Japan has the lowest measured rate of homelessness of any wealthy nation. Finland is the only country in Europe that has driven homelessness down over decades rather than watched it climb. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-homelessness-wont-pay.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2026 10:40:01 EDT news710407202 European deportation practices are governed by a complex web of European, national and human rights law, says the author of a paper published in the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies. Based on 100,000 French court cases, the study shows that national courts play a central role in determining whether individuals can be removed. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-french-deportation-conflicting.html Social Sciences Sat, 03 Oct 2026 08:00:13 EDT news709821695 America is a nation of local laws—millions of them. From noise ordinances and construction codes to rules about fishing licenses and roadside mango peddling, every town, city and county has its own set of regulations and unique way of doing things. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-america-local-laws-free-searchable.html Political science Fri, 02 Oct 2026 17:40:09 EDT news710167442 A core assumption in any democracy is that citizens with access to information will make reasoned decisions on political candidates and policy issues. But a new study by UC Berkeley social scientists finds that Americans usually don't consider the full scope of difficult issues, instead basing their opinions on mental shortcuts that sidestep complexity. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-complex-political-issues-americans-shortcuts.html Political science Fri, 02 Oct 2026 16:40:02 EDT news710160246 As Americans prepared to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday on the morning of July 4, sobering images flashed across their phones and TV screens. Hundreds of masked men marched through the streets of Washington carrying flags and chanting "Reclaim America!" It soon became clear from the logos on their identical baseball caps that the marchers were members of Patriot Front, a white nationalist group. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-white-nationalism-appeal-deeper-partisan.html Political science Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:40:11 EDT news710158868 Nations should do more to reduce uncertainty about the legal value of their positions on cyber activities, a new study says. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-reveals-national-cyber-positions-future.html Political science Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:20:01 EDT news710158506 Refugees are more likely than native citizens to begin entrepreneurial ventures in their adopted countries, either by choice or because they have few other options. A new study offers insight into how refugees from common backgrounds end up adopting very different approaches to running their businesses by focusing on refugees who defected from North Korea and started their own ventures in South Korea. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-north-korean-defectors-refugee-entrepreneurs.html Economics & Business Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:40:01 EDT news710076902 Khadra Essa, a Somali-born Dutch citizen operating in Syria under the name Umm Qaqa al-Somali, is a wanted woman. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-suicide-bombers-positions-authority-role.html Social Sciences Thu, 01 Oct 2026 13:20:01 EDT news710069522 A new article by sociologists Tristan Bridges (University of California, Santa Barbara) and James W. Messerschmidt (University of Southern Maine) examines how AI-generated memes circulated on social media by President Donald Trump represent a significant transformation in the visual politics of masculinity. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-trump-ai-generated-memes-impact.html Political science Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:20:02 EDT news710056022 International human rights law protects migrants once they are within a state's jurisdiction but stops short of recognizing the right to enter another country, according to a new analysis in the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies that argues this makes the system incomplete. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-border-entry-reveals-gap-international.html Political science Wed, 30 Sep 2026 17:40:18 EDT news710003221 The change was obvious—but in the end, things stayed about the same. Cornell researchers took advantage of online petition website Change.org's gradual rollout of an artificial intelligence writing tool to gauge AI-enhanced language's impact on petition outcomes. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-petitions-changeorg-text-success.html Social Sciences Wed, 30 Sep 2026 15:10:01 EDT news709997342