https://phys.org/science-news/political-science/ en-us The latest news on political science Republicans and Democrats, renters and homeowners, rich and poor—agree on at least one thing: Buying a home is harder today than it was for their parents. The latest UCI-OC Poll suggests that's just the beginning of the problem. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-orange-county-residents-american.html Economics & Business Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:00:04 EDT news705231055 A research team led by Professor Hitoshi Yamamoto of Rissho University analyzed five years of longitudinal panel survey data collected between 2020 and 2024 and examined how vaccine-related conspiracy beliefs were associated with media skepticism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study's results appear in Scientific Reports. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-distrust-mainstream-media-fuel-vaccine.html Social Sciences Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:00:03 EDT news705152056 New research from Rutgers University–Newark psychologist Kent Harber reveals a strong connection between conspiracy theories, antisemitic attitudes and hostility toward Israel. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-strong-link-conspiracy-beliefs-antisemitism.html Political science Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:00:06 EDT news705148021 Most Americans favor nonviolent measures, such as temporary barricades, over violent measures, like the use of rubber bullets, by border enforcement officers toward undocumented migrants on the southern border, a UCL-led study published in the journal Migration Studies has found. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-americans-violent-border.html Social Sciences Mon, 03 Aug 2026 08:20:04 EDT news704957582 Climate change, land-use change and socioeconomic pressures are turning wildfires from a primarily ecological process into a complex, systemic risk that cuts across ecosystems, infrastructure, public health, water resources, cultural heritage and rural livelihoods. Despite substantial investments in firefighting capacity, wildfires are projected to become more frequent, extreme and devastating, underscoring the need for cross-cutting solutions. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-policy-eu-wildfire-tool.html Political science Fri, 31 Jul 2026 16:40:05 EDT news704721901 Just 34% of people arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during President Donald Trump's second term have a criminal conviction, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That's a near-historic low, the authors note. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-people-ice-criminal-conviction-reveals.html Political science Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:40:03 EDT news704711881 A James Cook University study is challenging the belief that the greatest cost of going to court is losing a case, arguing the legal process itself can leave lasting psychological scars. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-exposing-hidden-toll-litigation.html Social Sciences Fri, 31 Jul 2026 07:20:05 EDT news704697362 Mathematicians have shown that completely fair elections are—in a sense—impossible. No electoral system can guarantee both that local votes translate directly into local seats and that total seat distribution matches overall vote shares—not without an indefinitely growing parliament. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-math-vote.html Mathematics Fri, 31 Jul 2026 05:00:05 EDT news704551291 For years, social media companies have faced pressure from users and government watchdogs to stop misinformation from distorting elections, deepening political divisions and undermining Americans' trust in institutions. But what if dramatically reducing people's exposure to unreliable sources that frequently spread misinformation doesn't actually change what they believe? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-misinformation-facebook-instagram.html Social Sciences Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:20:08 EDT news704623622 How much of what you see on social media comes from sources that repeatedly post falsehoods? And if that content quietly vanished from your feed, would you believe anything different months later? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-exposure-untrustworthy-social-media-rare.html Social Sciences Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:40:01 EDT news704611262 Corporate climate spending now steers trillions of dollars in transition finance worldwide. Does it drive genuine climate action? Research shows that accounting flexibility alone can make a company's reported emissions vary by roughly a factor of two—enough to appear either as a climate leader or a laggard. A new perspective in Nature Sustainability proposes developing industry-specific net-zero blueprints to close that gap. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-trillion-dollar-corporate-net-pledges.html Economics & Business Thu, 30 Jul 2026 05:00:03 EDT news704535481 A lack of data on prisoner characteristics is providing an incomplete picture of who dies in prison and why, which may be contributing to preventable deaths in custody, according to a new report. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-prisoner-inequalities-deaths-custody.html Social Sciences Wed, 29 Jul 2026 16:00:04 EDT news704548141 He tramples things without intending to. He was created by us. He never permanently goes away. In recent years, metaphorical representations of Donald Trump as the Japanese kaiju Godzilla have become common. Now, a paper published in De Gruyter Brill's The Forum argues that the Showa period Godzilla films (1954–75) can be read as an allegory of Trump's political career from 2016–24. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-godzilla-donald-trump.html Political science Wed, 29 Jul 2026 14:10:03 EDT news704550618 Shoppers would pay more for their weekly groceries if it meant improved welfare for farm animals, according to new research from the University of Reading. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shoppers-fork-farm-animal-welfare.html Economics & Business Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:00:01 EDT news704543942 Why do some people who embrace conspiracy theories simply hold those beliefs, while others act on them? A new study published in the British Journal of Social Psychology identifies three characteristics that help determine when conspiracy beliefs are most likely to shape real-world behavior: how certain people are that the belief is true, how personally important they consider it, and whether they see it as "actionable"—useful for deciding what to do. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-conspiracy-beliefs-action.html Social Sciences Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:20:08 EDT news704538721 Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is regaining prominence in climate policy debates in Germany. A study published in Environmental Politics examines the reasons behind this comeback and shows that the strict limits originally envisaged for CCS were progressively relaxed throughout the political process. This increases the risk that the lifespan of fossil fuel infrastructure will be prolonged, potentially sidelining other climate protection measures. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-carbon-revives-ccs-germany-safeguards.html Political science Tue, 28 Jul 2026 22:20:01 EDT news704451330 Supporters of losing parties express more distrust of their fellow citizens after elections than do supporters of winning parties, a new study has found, with voters who more strongly disliked rival parties showing even greater distrust. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-political-parties-fellow-citizens.html Political science Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:00:06 EDT news704450850 Interviews with political activists in Southern California showed stark differences in how migrants are viewed: either "like us" and deserving of rights or lawbreakers undeserving of social belonging and benefits. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-qa-lawbreakers-exploring-partisans-immigration.html Social Sciences Mon, 27 Jul 2026 22:40:01 EDT news704390161 An SKKU research team led by Professor Travers B. Child of the SKK Graduate School of Business (SKK GSB) has become the first in the world to use micro-level data to demonstrate that aid fragmentation—the phenomenon in which numerous international aid agencies operate simultaneously in a single region—can deepen administrative corruption in developing countries. The study was conducted jointly with Professor Austin L. Wright of the University of Chicago and Professor Yun Xiao of the University of Gothenburg. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-international-aid-fragmentation-affects-corruption.html Economics & Business Mon, 27 Jul 2026 19:40:03 EDT news704374350 The actions of big business shape public health, so local authorities need to carefully consider how to govern their relationships with them. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tool-local-authorities-commercial-health.html Social Sciences Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:20:04 EDT news704360521 In the increasingly polarized political realm, moderates may be viewed as disloyal by both conservatives and liberals when the opposing side seems threatening, according to research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-political-moderates-disloyal-sides.html Social Sciences Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:00:01 EDT news704103941 A new study has found that mass shootings and deaths by suicide in the United States share seasonal patterns, reaching their highest levels during summer months. Analyzing national data spanning 2014–2021, researchers observed consistent summertime peaks in both mass shootings and suicide deaths, suggesting that common environmental, behavioral or biological factors may contribute to seasonal fluctuations in these forms of violence. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-mass-suicide-deaths-summer.html Social Sciences Mon, 27 Jul 2026 07:00:10 EDT news704346361 Puerto Ricans share deep skepticism toward elected officials and a widespread sense of limited self-governance, according to a new study from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-power-puerto-ricans-distrust-deep.html Social Sciences Thu, 23 Jul 2026 21:00:02 EDT news704038323 Bureaucracy moves slowly, and decades of outdated provisions clogging the bylaws of cities and states only make it worse. Sometimes dubbed "policy sludge," such obsolete processes and stale reporting requirements can trap civil servants in red tape and cause program dysfunction. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-states-decades-red-tape.html Political science Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:00:01 EDT news704024642 Researchers at the University of Huddersfield have developed a new theoretical framework exploring whether social media recommendation systems may contribute to the amplification of narcissistic traits over time. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-social-media-impact-narcissistic-traits.html Social Sciences Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:00:05 EDT news704018826 In January 2025, the Trump administration announced a 90-day freeze on all United States government (USG) foreign aid, which subsequently became a permanent shutdown of USAID in July 2025. New research finds that the abrupt cessation of foreign aid disrupted health and humanitarian systems worldwide, with disproportionate impacts on women, girls and other marginalized populations. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spotlights-human-toll-abrupt-foreign.html Social Sciences Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:03 EDT news704002022 Positive crowd reactions like applause and laughter can make controversial political messages more acceptable to viewers, according to new research by psychologist Dr. Carl Senior at Aston University. The research suggests that how broadcasters and content creators use applause, laughter and booing can subtly shape public perceptions of populist figures and divisive issues like immigration. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-crowd-reactions-people-controversial-political.html Social Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:20:05 EDT news703946761 Social networks, intended to bring people together, can actually increase polarization, new research finds, because while the links in the network may be plentiful, they're probably weak. A research team including Cornell sociologist Michael Macy has found that while the growing number of international contacts enabled by modern communications technologies may indeed contribute to greater polarization, as shown in previous studies, the underlying mechanism does not necessarily depend on an increase in close friendships. Instead, weaker social ties appear to play a more significant role, as they are more likely to foster hierarchical structures shaped by social status. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-deepen-polarization-social-weak.html Social Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:54:28 EDT news703950850 Droughts have an immediate negative impact on agricultural production, but they can also trigger institutional and cultural transformations that help make societies more resilient to environmental crises. This is the main conclusion of the article "Climate shocks, democratization and (a culture of) cooperation," published in the journal Economica by economists Giacomo Benati, from the University of Barcelona, and Carmine Guerriero, from the University of Bologna. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-droughts-boost-inclusive-social-unity.html Social Sciences Tue, 21 Jul 2026 23:40:01 EDT news703857155 Recent U.S. Supreme Court terms have seen justices openly accuse one another of rewriting statutes, ignoring precedent and substituting policy preferences for law. Whether in disputes over presidential immunity, administrative power, nationwide injunctions or transgender rights, justices have demonstrated that they aren't afraid to challenge one another's reasoning. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-supreme-court-decisions-sharper-justices.html Political science Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:20:11 EDT news703852862