Not Another Politics Podcast
Not Another Politics Podcast offers a fresh perspective on the biggest political stories, grounded in rigorous scholarship, massive data sets, and deep theoretical knowledge. Hosted by Harris School of Public Policy Professors William Howell, Anthony Fowler, and Wioletta Dziuda, the show cuts through the noise of the 24/7 news cycle to provide a clear understanding of political science beyond the headlines. It is part of the University of Chicago Podcast Network.
Episodes
Are Easy A’s Too Widespread in Academia?
Across universities today, raw GPAs treat an A in advanced econometrics the same as an A in introductory film studies. Standard grading systems inadvertently penalize students who challenge themselves and reward those who course-shop.
In this episode, we speak with Harvard Business School Professor Scott Kominers about his recent paper that looks at how mathematical market design and "eigengrades"
Do We Understand Members Of The Other Party?
Do Democrats and Republicans really misunderstand each other as much as we think?
This week, we dive into a surprising new experiment that puts that idea to the test — literally. Psychologist and researcher Adam Mastriani created a kind of “political Turing test,” asking people to write persuasive statements from the perspective of the opposite political party. Then, he tested whether others could
The Economic Cost of Populism
While we take a quick summer break, we wanted to re-release an episode that felt timely, given the rise of right-wing populism around the world. More than 25 percent of countries around the world are currently governed by populists, from Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, to Donald Trump in the United States. Based on these findings, populism is at an all-time high, and taking a significant economic
Is Abortion Policy Out Of Step With Public Opinion?
Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, we've been told a simple story: red states are radically out of step with public opinion. But what if that's not actually the reality? On this episode, we speak with Natalie Hernandez, Yale PhD candidate in Political Science, about her upcoming APSR paper, "Asymmetric Representation: Post-Roe Abortion Policy and Public Opinion in the U.S. States." Using a massive dat
The Political Effects of the Opioid Crisis
In this episode, we speak with Victoria Barone, Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame, to discuss her recent NBER paper that examines the possible relationship between the opioid epidemic and the political realignment between the Republican and Democratic parties.
While the public health consequences of the crisis are well-documented, Barone’s research uncovers a startling political
Is the Median Justice Running the Supreme Court?
In debates about the Supreme Court, we tend to focus on the justice who writes the opinion. But what if that’s not where the real power lies?
In this episode, we speak to Jonathan P. Kastellec, Professor at Princeton University, about his new paper that challenges how we think about decision-making on the Court. Instead of opinion authors driving the law, Kastellec argues that power often rests wi
Why Does America Pay More For Infrastructure?
We're off this week for a much-needed spring break, but we wanted to re-share this episode that feels more relevant than ever. Infrastructure in the U.S. now costs dramatically more than in countries like Germany or Croatia—without clear signs of higher quality or better environmental outcomes. Why has infrastructure spending spiraled out of control? Could democracy itself—through litigation, regu
What Binary Questions Get Wrong About Voters
Are Americans really polarized along party lines? Today, we discuss a new paper from our co-host Anthony Fowler, about one of the most common tools researchers use to measure public opinion: simple yes-or-no survey questions.
Most political surveys ask people to choose between two options—support or oppose, yes or no. But Fowler’s research shows that these binary questions can hide important nuanc
Do Dishonest People Self-Select Into Public Service?
Is academic dishonesty connected to political power in China? That question is explored in a new paper from Shaoda Wang, Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Wang and his co-authors explore how plagiarism detection in graduate dissertations is connected to patterns of cheating in career paths and institutional behavior. What lessons might this hold for p
The Future of Empirical Research in the Age of AI
In this episode, we sit down with Stanford political scientist Andy Hall and PhD candidate Graham Straus to unpack their new paper, “How Accurately Did Claude Code Replicate and Extend a Published Political Science Paper?” — an empirical audit of what happens when an AI agent is asked to replicate and extend a real research project.Last January, Andy asked Claude Code to generate an extension of a
Are Primary Elections Responsible for Polarization in Congress?
Do members of Congress vote differently when they are worried about winning their party’s primary election? On today's episode, Ethan and Wioletta interview Anthony about his forthcoming paper, “Do Primary Elections Exacerbate Congressional Polarization?,” which is forthcoming from the Journal of Politics. Using detailed voting data and the natural variation in primary election timing across state
What Do Politicians Think Motivates Voters?
Do politicians really understand what drives voters—or are they relying on flawed assumptions that could shape democracy in troubling ways?As we take some time off for the holidays, we wanted to re-share our episode with University of Calgary political scientist Jack Lucas, whose paper “Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior,” reveals striking gaps between how politicians perceive voters and how
Do Professors Self-Censor On Controversial Topics?
In this episode, we speak with Cory Clark, behavioral scientist and Associate Professor of Psychology at New College of Florida. We discuss her paper, “Taboos and Self-Censorship Among U.S. Psychology Professors," which explores how controversial topics in science are perceived, debated, and sometimes suppressed, and the psychological dynamics of taboo beliefs and self-censorship in academia. Host
Is Partisan Gerrymandering As Bad As You Think?
There is no political topic that can get people’s blood boiling quite like partisan gerrymandering. But what do we know about how effective it is and what the data shows about its outcomes?This week, we're re-releasing our conversation with Princeton political scientist Kosuke Imai about his paper, "Widespread Partisan Gerrymandering Mostly Cancels Nationally, But Reduces Electoral Competition.” H
Do Donors Punish Extremist Primary Nominees?
What happens when a political party nominates a candidate in its primary who is ideologically extreme? Do donors, especially those outside the party’s base, react — and if so, how? That question is explored in a new paper by Andy Christopher Wayne Myers, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at Stanford University. He uncovers how donors respond when a relative “moderate” is replaced by a more extr
The Economic Cost of Populism
More than 25 percent of countries around the world are currently governed by populists, from Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, to Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, and Donald Trump in the United States. Based on these findings, populism is at an all-time high, and taking a significant economic toll, according to a recent paper by Christoph Trebesch and his co-authors.Trebesch is Professor of Economics at
Is Political Science Research Underpowered?
What if most political science studies are too weak to find the effects they’re looking for? In this episode, we dig into a new paper by Vincent Arel-Bundock and colleagues that reveals a striking truth: quantitative political science is greatly underpowered. With thousands of tests analyzed, the authors show that many studies have only a one-in-ten chance of detecting real effects — and that even
Can Trade Be A Weapon Of Global Power?
For decades, free trade was treated as an unquestioned good—an engine of prosperity and cooperation. But today, leaders from Washington to Beijing are rethinking trade as something very different: a tool of power.In this episode, we dive into new research with Harvard’s David Yang that asks: how do trade relationships actually give countries leverage over one another? Why might exports matter more
Should Unelected Judges Be Deciding National Policy?
Every week, headlines tell us that a single federal judge has blocked a presidential order—sometimes halting major policies for years. But should that be possible? Is it democratic?In this episode, we dig into the rise and fall of universal injunctions—a little-known legal tool that allowed one judge to freeze nationwide policy. With a recent Supreme Court decision, those injunctions are now off t
Do Politicians Really Have A Conservative Bias?
Political scientists have long argued that legislators believe the public is more conservative than it really is—potentially shaping policies that don’t align with what voters actually want. But what if that story is incomplete?In this episode, we talk with University of Chicago political scientist Adam Zelizer, who challenges the conventional wisdom. His new research suggests that politicians may
Do We Understand Members Of The Other Party?
Do Democrats and Republicans really misunderstand each other as much as we think?This week, we dive into a surprising new experiment that puts that idea to the test — literally. Psychologist and researcher Adam Mastriani created a kind of “political Turing test,” asking people to write persuasive statements from the perspective of the opposite political party. Then, he tested whether others could
MechaHitler and The Political Bias of AI Chatbots
When you ask ChatGPT or Gemini a question about politics, whose opinions are you really hearing?In this episode, we dive into a provocative new study from political scientist Justin Grimmer and his colleagues, which finds that nearly every major large language model—from ChatGPT to Grok—is perceived by Americans as having a left-leaning bias. But why is that? Is it the training data? The guardrail
Does The Supreme Court Need Term Limits?
We're taking some time off to regroup over the summer, but we’re not just dusting off this older episode for no reason. When we first released it, we were grappling with what Supreme Court reform might look like—specifically, whether we should rethink lifetime appointments and move toward term limits.Now? The stakes feel even higher. In just the last few weeks, we’ve seen the Court issue decisions
Are We Really Hopelessly Divided?
Before we get into today’s episode, we wanted to let you know this is a re-release as we take some time to regroup over the summer. But we’re not just dusting it off for no reason. If anything, this episode feels even more relevant now than when we first aired it.It raises a big question: Are voters really thinking for themselves? Or are they just reflexively rejecting anything the other side says
The Surprising Political Consequences Of Emigration?
Migration policies shape not only the economies of countries but also their politics. In this episode, we dive deep into how letting people leave—or restricting their exit—can have surprising ripple effects on collective action and political reform in their home countries. Yale political scientist Emily Sellars reveals why migration might weaken the power of ordinary people to organize and push fo
Is Trump Copying Obama’s Playbook on Universities?
What if the recent crackdown on elite universities didn’t start with Trump—but with Obama? In this episode, we trace a surprising through-line connecting Obama’s Title IX enforcement to Trump’s Title VI threats. Harvard Law Professor Jacob Gersen joins us to reveal how both presidents used informal bureaucratic tools to reshape higher education—often without Congress. What does this say about pres
Is This the Most Unexpected Voter Turnout Strategy Ever?
What if one of the most powerful tools to boost voter turnout isn’t a flashy campaign or a new voting law—but being randomly forced to work the polls?In this episode, we explore a surprising study of women in 1930s Spain who were randomly assigned to serve as poll workers—just after they gained the right to vote. The results? A massive, 30-point increase in future voting behavior. Is this just a h
Should Judges Be Elected Like Politicians?
Hello listeners, we're taking a much-needed spring break here at the podcast, but we want to re-share one of our episodes that has become increasingly salient. One of the defining features of the Trump administration so far is its entanglement with the courts. The legality or illegality of many of its actions are currently being decided by federal judges. Which means that judges suddenly have a lo
Can Meritocratic Hiring Fix the Bureaucracy?
Led by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE, Americans are debating once again how our government should hire civil servants, but are we asking the right questions? In this episode, we dive into a compelling new study on the Pendleton Act, one of the most significant bureaucratic reforms in U.S. history, which introduced merit-based civil service exams to combat corruption and incompetenc
Why Does America Pay More For Infrastructure?
Infrastructure in the U.S. now costs dramatically more than in countries like Germany or Croatia—without clear signs of higher quality or better environmental outcomes. Why has infrastructure spending spiraled out of control? Could democracy itself—through litigation, regulations, and empowered citizen voices—be driving costs sky-high?George Washington University Professor of Public Policy Leah Br
Do Voters Sometimes Support Parties They Actually Disagree With?
In elections across democracies, we assume voters cast ballots for candidates whose policies align with their interests. But what happens when that's not the case? This week, we unpack a political puzzle from Japan: the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) keeps winning elections despite voters consistently rejecting their policies.Through groundbreaking research from Yale political scientist Shiro Kuri
How Do Political Outsiders Build Loyalty With New Administrations?
What happens when a political outsider takes power and shakes up the system? In this episode, we look at a fascinating case study that reveals how leaders outside the establishment build loyalty, push their agendas, and change the political landscape.Political scientist Renard Sexton discusses his paper “Deadly Populism: How Local Political Outsiders Drive Duterte’s War on Drugs In The Philippines
What Can Political Science Learn from Crypto Governance?
There’s a real-world experiment in governance happening that you’ve probably not heard about. It involves decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). These online collectives are trying to run billion-dollar enterprises using direct democracy and a controversial mechanism known as “liquid democracy”—where you can delegate your vote to anyone, at any time. Are these DAOs and blockchain experimen
Is The "Strong Economy Equals Incumbent Victory" Theory Wrong?
Conventional wisdom says that a strong economy helps incumbents, while a weak economy hurts them. But new research from University of Chicago economist Lubos Pastor titled “Political Cycles and Stock Returns” challenges this idea, suggesting that economic downturns actually push voters toward Democrats, while economic booms favor Republicans.If true, this theory could explain decades of presidenti
What Are The Forces Shaping Polarization in Congress?
Why does Congress feel more divided than ever? Are politicians genuinely becoming more extreme, or is something else at play? In this episode, we take on the polarization debate with a twist. Anthony Fowler sits down with University of Chicago political scientist Daniel Moskowitz to uncover new data that challenges conventional wisdom in his paper “Parsing Party Polarization In Congress”. Forget t
Do Voters Elect Politicians Just Based On Looks?
On our last episode we had a discussion about what voters care about when electing politicians…and we mentioned a prior episode where we discussed if something as seemingly arbitrary as looks factor into voter choice. Do more attractive politicians do better?We all know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but if we’re being honest we all do it on occasion anyway. Could it be that we
What Do Politicians Think Motivates Voters?
Do politicians really understand what drives voters—or are they relying on flawed assumptions that could shape democracy in troubling ways?A groundbreaking new study by University of Calgary political scientist Jack Lucas, “Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior,” reveals striking gaps between how politicians perceive voters and how voters see themselves. While politicians often hold a cynical,
Are Politicians or The Public More Committed to Democracy?
When it comes to defending democracy, are politicians or the public more committed to its principles—or are both equally willing to bend the rules for political gain?In his forthcoming book, Elitism vs. Populism, University of Texas at Dallas Political Scientist Curtis Bram challenges the idea that elites are the ultimate defenders of democracy. Through innovative experiments comparing everyday ci
Is Bad Government Driving The Rise of Populism?
Hello Not Another Politics Podcast Listeners. We took some time off in preparation for the Thanksgiving Holiday but given the incredible political events of the month we wanted to re-share an episode that we think is even more relevant today than when we recorded it. Why is populism on the rise across the globe? One story says this movement is driven by anti-elite and anti-establishment sentiment,
Why Did Trump Win Again in 2024?
Trump’s back in the White House—how did it happen? This week, we break down what the political science literature has to tell us about why voters swung his way, what Kamala Harris’s loss tells us about populism and political discontent, and what’s next for American democracy. Plus, co-host Will Howell makes a big announcement! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for infor
Do Democrats and Republicans Agree on What (and Who) to Censor?
When it comes to online discourse, do Americans really value free speech—or are they more comfortable with censorship than expected?A surprising new paper from University of Rochester Political Scientist Jamie Druckman, “Illusory Interparty Disagreement: Partisans Agree On What Hate Speech To Censor But Do Not Know It” reveals a surprising alignment between Democrats and Republicans on what kinds
Do Fraud Claims About The 2020 Presidential Election Stand Up To Scrutiny?
In the wake of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, claims of widespread voter fraud have fueled political controversies and public distrust. But how credible are these claims?In this episode, we sit down with political scientist Justin Grimmer to discuss his new paper “An Evaluation of Fraud Claims from the 2020 Trump Election Contests” which systematically debunks over 1,000 fraud allegations fr
What's Behind The Educational Realignment In Voting?
Ever thought about how your college degree might sway your political leanings? Voters with and without college degrees drifting apart, especially on issues like economics, social values, and foreign policy, but what's driving this shift, and how are party positions influencing voters across different education levels?A new paper from University of Pennsylvania’s William Marble, “What Explains Educ
Does Election Timing Matter For Turnout And Policy Outcomes?
We talk about it every election cycle…how can we get higher voter turnout? As part of the Center for Effective Government’s primer series focusing on the scholarship covering the pros and cons of different government reforms, University of Chicago Policy Professor Christopher Berry examined whether changing the timing of elections can result in higher turnout.But he also explored a much more conte
Do Committees Lead To Better-Informed Legislative Voting?
In a recent paper by Washington University political scientist Michael Olson, he documents a very strange phenomenon. It seems that when legislators join committees, they’re voting record becomes less aligned with their constituents’ political preferences. The question is…why?Could it be that being on a committee means they’re just better informed about what good policy really would be, or could i
Do Presidents Have As Much Power As We Think?
Since Biden’s debate performance, America’s political elite have been engaged in a debate. How much does a President really matter for effective government? If his administration seems to work fine, how much of an affect can a President have? At the same time, we important Supreme Court decisions that seem to be giving more power to Presidents which makes finding answers to these questions even mo
Do City Services Move Faster for Affluent and White Neighborhoods?
Have you ever made a 311 call? This is a service provided by many cities that allows citizens to call in things like potholes, graffiti, fallen trees, ect. There is an assumption that many people have that requests made by white and more affluent neighborhoods probably get responded to faster. But is that accurate? In a recent paper, “Unequal Responsiveness in City Service Delivery: Evidence from
How To "Get Out The Vote"
Hello Not Another Politics Podcast listeners. We’re taking some much needed time off as the school year comes to a close; but with the elections right around the corner we still wanted to share some incredibly relevant and important political science research.Every Presidential election, we talk about “getting out the vote”. But what really works in terms of getting people to go to the polls? We s
How Powerful Are October Surprises?
Hello Not Another Politics Podcast listeners. We’re taking some much needed time off as the school year comes to a close; but with the elections right around the corner we still wanted to share some incredibly relevant and important political science research. This week we’re resharing an episode all about October Surprises that has some counter intuitive insights that could become important durin
Does The Public View The Supreme Court As Legitimate In A Post-Dobbs World ?
The Supreme Court is supposed to be our non-political branch of government, making decisions solely on the constitutional soundness of laws. But in recent years it appears as though the Court has taken a shift to the right, most notably in the Dobbs decision in 2022. Which raises a question: does the public still the view the Court as legitimate?Those are the questions explored in a new paper from
How Good Are We At Spotting Fake News?
If the media is to be believed, the US public has a tenuous at best grasp on accurate political news. They’re either consuming disinformation and fake news on social media or following biasedly inaccurate news outlets. Either journalistic truth is as good as dead or we’re living in separate informational universes. But is this too alarmist, could the real story be more nuanced?That’s what Columbia
Is Partisan Animosity Directed At Fellow Citizens Or Elites?
There is a fact of our political discourse so agreed upon that nobody thinks to question it: affective polarization…democrats and republicans disliking each other...has been getting worse, much worse. But what if that belief is actually based on polls measuring the wrong thing?That’s the argument made by Northwestern Political Scientist James Druckman in his paper “What Do We Measure When We Measu
Should Policy Match Voters' Preferences?
How do we know if our democracy is healthy? For political scientist, the answer often comes down to things we can measure like responsiveness to voter’s wishes. But is that really the right thing to measure?There are two camps in this debate. The empiricists want to focus on what and how we can measure things like the health of our democracy, often focusing on indicators like responsiveness, while
Are Too Many Political Appointments Harming Our Bureaucracy?
When it comes to our federal bureaucracy, there are two schools of thought. One says that an insulated group of career bureaucrats have created a deep state that corrupts the performance of government. The other says that our bureaucracy is dysfunctional because there is too much turnover or positions left vacant. Both rest on an underlying feature of our democracy: many of the positions in the fe
Should Judges Be Elected or Appointed?
There is a long running debate in political science: do we get better judges by letting the public vote in elections or by giving our leaders the power to appoint them? One side says that judges should be insulated from the influence of politics involved in elections, focusing entirely on the rule of law. The other side says that our judges should be accountable to the public for the decisions the
Why Women Are Underrepresented in U.S. Politics
Despite making up roughly half of the U.S. population, women only make up about one-quarter of representatives and senators. And this trend is not just national—it holds true globally as well. What explains why women are underrepresented in politics? If women are just as likely to win elections as men do, then why are they less likely to run for office?In a recent paper, "Modeling Theories of Wome
What Makes A Legislator Effective?
When it comes to passing actual legislation, putting it forward and getting it all the way through the process, it can be difficult to measure exactly which legislators are effective. Not to mention which types of legislators tend to be more effective, moderates or extremists? And does majority-party membership increase effectives?In an innovative new paper, “Effective Lawmaking Across Congression
Do Conservatives Sabotage The Administrative State?
When we talk about the interpretation and ultimately implementation of policy we’re not talking about Congress so much as the Administrative State. But what happens when those who work in those agencies decide through their positions to not only sabotage a policy they’re meant to carry out, but perhaps the whole agency?In a recent paper titled “Administrative Sabotage” Rutgers law professor, David
Who Gets Heard On Redistribution, The Rich Or Poor?
When we talk about policy choices around redistribution there is an assumption so obvious that most people never question it. That politicians are more responsive to the desires of the rich, and that policy preferences of the poor don’t hold as much sway. But what if that assumption was wrong?In a recent paper by Boston University Economist Raymond Fisman titled “Whose Preference Matter For Redist
Can We Believe Political Surveys?
Hello listeners! Our team took some end of the year time off, but we know your holiday travel wouldn’t be complete without some in-depth political science research. So, we’re release some episodes we think are going to be very relevant as we move into an election year. And thanks to everyone who listened to our podcast this year. We don’t make money off this show, it’s a labor of love to make impo
Should It Be Illegal Not To Vote?
Hello listeners! Our team took some end of the year time off, but we know your holiday travel wouldn’t be complete without some in-depth political science research. So, we’re release some episodes we think are going to be very relevant as we move into an election year. And thanks to everyone who listened to our podcast this year. We don’t make money off this show, it’s a labor of love to make impo
Is There A "Spiral of Silence" On Campus And In Our Politics?
The recent crisis in the Israel and Palestine conflict has added fuel to the already heated debate over free speech in our politics and on college campuses. Does the scientific literature having anything to tell us about the health of public discourse in these domains?A recent paper by Harvard Ph.D. candidate Yihong Huang titled “Breaking the Spiral of Silence” holds some answers. It looks at how
The Bargaining Strategies of Extremists
There is a political puzzle that has become prominent in the last few decades, especially with the recent turmoil over the Republican led Speaker of the House: how do a small group of extremists manage to get their way despite being a minority of members?In a recent paper, “Organizing at the Extreme: Hardline Strategy and Institutional Design” University of Chicago Political Scientist Ruth Bloch R
Is Gridlock Causing Polarization?
We often say on this podcast that the American electorate is not polarized but the elites are, and that this polarization causes policy gridlock. But what if it’s the other way around? Is it possible that gridlock in government is actually causing polarization and a turn toward extremist candidates?That’s the assertion of a paper called “From Gridlock to Polarization” by Barton Lee, the Chair of P
Partisan Identities vs Anti-Establishment Orientations
When political commentators talk about polarization, they often mean a partisan ideological divide: the left vs the right, republicans vs democrats, progressives vs conservatives. But what if there is a different dichotomy driving our political disagreements that is orthogonal to ideological differences? That’s what University of Miami political scientist Joseph Uscinski argues in a recent paper,
LIVE: Does Money Distort Our Politics?
If there is one thing the right and left seem to agree on it’s that money distorts our politics. It allows the rich to shape policy, choose who gets elected, and escape consequences. But what if this common belief isn’t as true as you think?On our second live episode, we look back to famous paper in the political science literature, “Why Is There so Little Money in U.S. Politics?” by Stephen Ansol
Presidential Power, Parties, And The Rise Of The Administrative State
One of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign promises is to upend the modern civil service through an executive order called “Schedule F”. Democrats and Republicans have been fighting over this administrative state since its conception, but why is this area of government so divisive and what power does it really hold?The history of the civil services’ origins is one that holds many lessons about the rise o
Does Social Media Polarize Our Politics?
It’s one of the most common refrains in political discourse today: social media is the source of polarization. It’s a difficult proposition to empirically study because companies like Meta and X don’t share their data publicly. Until now.In a landmark series of papers, three in Science and one in Nature, Princeton political scientists Andy Guess and a massive team of researchers were given unique
Is Partisan Gerrymandering As Bad As You Think?
There is no political topic that can get people’s blood boiling quite like partisan gerrymandering. Many even go so far as to call it an afront to our democracy. But what do we know about how effective it is and what the data shows about its outcomes?In a new paper, “Widespread Partisan Gerrymandering Mostly Cancels Nationally, But Reduces Electoral Competition” Princeton political scientist, Kosu
Does Ousting Incumbents Improve The Economy?
The assumption in political science has always been that electing challengers can lead to a downturn in performance. It takes time to do all the hiring involved in establishing a new government, and there is always a learning curve about processes and procedures. But a surprising new paper shows the opposite might be true.In “Electoral Turnovers”, Boston University economist Benjamin Marx uses a v
Do Partisans Really Believe Different Facts?
The common refrain in political coverage today says that each side of the aisle is living in an information bubble. There is a partisan knowledge gap between the facts Democrats know and the facts Republicans know. May believe this gap could be the downfall of our democracy. But what if that gap isn’t as large as we think?In a new paper by independent researcher, Gaurav Sood, titled “A Gap In Our
Is Voter Rationality A Test Of A Health Democracy?
There’s a long tradition in political science of using voter rationality to test the health of our democracy. But could this myopia be misguided? Are there any situations where irrational and uninformed voters could actually generate a healthier democracy?We’re taking a short summer break to catch up on some incredible episodes we have in the works. But in the meantime, we’re going to re-share som
When Fox Viewers Watch CNN Instead
Partisan misinformation. Many people think it comes from the news people watch. When it comes to cable news, Fox and CNN have pretty partisan viewers. So, what would happen if Fox viewers tuned into CNN for a month? Would they suddenly adopt different views more aligned with CNN?We’re taking a short summer break to catch up on some incredible episodes we have in the works. But in the meantime, we’
Do White Americans Favor White Politicians?
As the Supreme Court debates whether to end affirmative action, concerns about the power of implicit racial bias to shape who gets ahead in America are as salient as ever. But what do we know about the extent and power of this racism to drive voting decisions? Is there a scientific way to measure it?In a new paper “Disfavor or Favor? Assessing the Valence of White Americans’ Racial Attitudes” poli
Do Stimulus Checks Buy Votes?
We’ve become deeply familiar with stimulus checks in the last few years, but what isn’t clear is what affect these transfers may have on elections. Could stimulus checks be enough for citizens to change their votes to the party handing out the money and if so, is this a way for politicians to buy votes?Northwestern Professor of economics Silvia Vannutelli explores these questions in a paper titled
Can You Judge A Politician By Their Looks?
We all know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but if we’re being honest we all do it on occasion anyway. Could it be that we also elect our politicians just based on how they look? Of course, there’s the old idea of looking “presidential”, but how much power does that really have to sway an election?A famous paper by University of Chicago behavioral scientist Alexander Todorov prov
Can Citizen Appeals Change Government Action?
When citizens directly appeal to their government, are their concerns ignored or taken seriously? It’s an important question for understanding norms around accountability, especially in authoritarian regimes. To find some answers, University of Chicago Professor of Public Policy Shaoda Wang helped develop a clever field experiment evaluating how Chinese regulators respond to citizen appeals about
Does Bad Government Breed Populism?
Why is populism on the rise across the globe? One story says this movement is driven by anti-elite and anti-establishment sentiment, that they just want to throw the bums out. Another says it’s driven by identity politics, an anti-immigrant pro-nativist ideology. Both stories don’t leave room for much hope. But what if there was another story that not only gives us some hope but supplies a clear s
Do Political Endorsements Undermine Trust In Science?
In the runup to the 2020 election, the academic journal Nature made the unprecedented decision to endorse Joe Biden for President. During an era when trust in science has never seemed more crucial, this decision led many to wonder if explicitly political statements increase or decrease public trust in science.Luckily, one PhD graduate from the Stanford School of Business designed a well-crafted ex
Do Politicians Spend Money Differently Depending On Its Source?
Paper link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3273001 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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