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All Episodes

The Science of Politics — 227 episodes

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Title
1

Inside the Democratic Socialist uprising

2

The rise of small donors is mostly making politics worse

3

Can We Make Legislators More Effective?

4

Will young Americans become long-term democrats?

5

Are the Courts contributing to democratic backsliding?

6

Political Inequality Isn’t Responsible for Economic Inequality

7

Can we improve trust in elections if the losers don’t concede?

8

Why rural areas vote Republican despite worse health outcomes

9

Can corporate scandals reinvigorate democracy?

10

The intellectual support for Trumpism

11

What Predicts Midterm Election Results?

12

Legislators are raising money instead of making policy

13

Can AI ‘vibe research’ replace social science?

14

How authoritarian parenting attitudes explain our political divides

15

Which groups win policy under each party?

16

How media incentives stoked the culture war

17

Who now directs spending: Congress or the president?

18

The backlash presidency

19

How the money chase governs our elections

20

The Supreme Court is enabling Trump’s executive power

21

The future of the democratic party

22

Will partisan redistricting tip Congress?

23

The fall of an independent Fed

24

Making AI policy: Are we falling behind or rushing in?

25

Is democracy failing education?

26

Reconciliation and rescission

27

How the president gained war powers

28

If we don’t like polarizing politicians, why do we get them?

29

Building a science of political progress

30

The backstory for presidential power grabs

31

Can liberals stop Trump in the courts?

32

How the 1st term trade war hurt Trump

33

Is Trump redirecting or deconstructing the administrative state?

34

Are the parties too focused on policy programs?

35

How policymakers and experts failed the COVID test

36

Can judicial review stop a lawless executive?

37

Why some Latinos support the Trump immigration agenda

38

Counterproductive interest group polarization

39

How racial realignment ignited the culture war

40

Threats to democracy in the 2nd Trump administration

41

Why Asian Americans did not swing to Harris

42

What the Trump nominations and transition foretell

43

Will Trump have unilateral power or just pretend he does?

44

Class, race, gender, and the 2024 election

45

Can we believe the polls?

46

Are Black voters moving to Trump?

47

How 'Woke' Are We?

48

How the campaigns battle for electoral college victory

49

How the diploma divide transformed American politics

50

Are American parties reviving or hollow?

51

What research on Black women candidates means for Kamala Harris

52

Can American identity reduce partisan animosity?

53

How think tanks drive polarization and policy

54

White racial sympathy

55

The impact of policy misinformation

56

When third parties matter

57

Why foreign policy is still bipartisan

58

Does the Biden economy have bad election timing or an unfair fed?

59

The Politics of Our Jobs

60

How will TikTok change politics?

61

How race makes us less punitive on opioid policy

62

Do Voters Dislike Old Candidates

63

Lessons from the COVID-era Welfare Expansion

64

How Bureaucrats Deal with Political Chaos Above

65

Elites Misperceive the Public

66

The Deterioration of Congress

67

The Two Sides of Immigration Backlash

68

Previewing 2024: How Voters Judge Presidents

69

Do presidents have the power to act alone?

70

Why presidents still spend their time raising money.

71

The decline of union Democrats

72

What explains the diploma divide?

73

Can state politicians be held accountable to the public?

74

Partisan election administrators don't tip the scales

75

Do the media drive presidential primaries?

76

Are claims that social media polarizes us overblown?

77

Don't expect extreme weather to spur climate policy change

78

Has American business turned left?

79

Will Supreme Court Opinions Provoke Public Backlash?

80

Are We Overproducing Elites and Instability?

81

How Parties Recruit and Limit Candidates

82

The causes and effects of budgeting under threat

83

How administrative burdens undermine public programs

84

How to reduce partisan animosity

85

Why Scandals Don’t Add Up to Damage Candidates

86

How Black voters choose candidates

87

How debates over diversity and equity came to dominate education politics

88

Racial minorities can win elections. Here's what's holding them back.

89

Changing how we elect presidents

90

How Congress communicates

91

Do moderate voters matter?

92

Judging Biden and Congress

93

The influence of Twitter on journalism and politics

94

How party leaders change Congress

95

How Early Voting is Changing American Elections

96

Does the 2022 election show how Democratic campaigns win?

97

How we connect our political beliefs

98

When partisanship forms our identity

99

How Misperceptions and Online Norms Drive “Cancel Culture”

100

When Information About Candidates Persuades Voters

101

When Public Opinion Goes to the Ballot Box

102

How primary elections enable polarized amateurs

103

Is democracy declining in the American states?

104

The past and future of polling

105

Why the baby boomers rule American politics

106

Did the Birchers win after all?

107

How much are polls misrepresenting Americans?

108

Abortion politics take center stage

109

Women in (and out of) Politics

110

Did economists move the Democrats to the right?

111

Descriptive Representation in Supreme Court Nominations

112

Putin’s War and Personalist Authoritarianism

113

Policymakers Follow Informed Expertise

114

How Does the Public Move Right When Policy Moves Left?

115

Does the Public Respond to Threats to Democracy?

116

U.S. Politics: The Hyper-Involved vs. The Disengaged

117

U.S. Democratic Decline in Comparative Perspective

118

Inflation Hurts Presidents, Especially Gas Prices—And It’s Not the Media’s Fault

119

How Politics Changes Our Racial Views and Identities

120

Childcare and Pre-K Expansion: Consensus or Polarization?

121

What Makes a Skilled and Conscious Mayor?

122

Can Democrats Design Social Programs that Survive?

123

The Future of the Biden Agenda in Congress

124

How the Left and Right Undermined Trust in Government

125

How the Media Economy Drives Political News

126

Why Lawyers Rule American Politics

127

The Growing Influence of the Non-Religious

128

The Role of Political Science in American Public Life

129

Why Rising Inequality Doesn't Stimulate Political Action

130

Reducing Polarization with Shared Values

131

Do Congressional Committees Still Make Policy?

132

Can TV News Keep Politics Local?

133

Is Demographic and Geographic Polarization Overstated?

134

How Voters Judge Congress

135

Conspiracy Beliefs are Not Increasing or Exclusive to the Right

136

The Resilience of the Filibuster and its Myths

137

Values and Racism in American Immigration Views

138

How Media Coverage of Congress Limits Policymaking

139

How Political Values and Social Influence Drive Polarization

140

When Partisans Endorse Violence

141

Right-Wing Extremism and the Capitol Insurrection

142

The Politics of School from Home

143

How Much Did Trump Undermine U.S. Democracy?

144

How Presidential Appointments Reveal Policy Goals and Elite Interests

145

Why Latinos Moved Toward Trump (and Why Most Are Still Democrats)

146

Compromise Still Works in Congress and with Voters

147

Interpreting the Early Results of the 2020 Election with G. Elliott Morris

148

How Court Nominations Polarize Interest Groups and Voters

149

Why Do Americans Accept Democratic Backsliding?

150

Racial Protest, Violence, and Backlash

151

How Rich White Residents and Interest Groups Rule Local Politics

152

How the Plutocrats Win from the Populist Right

153

The Roots of the Parties' Racial Switch

154

How Donor Opinion Distorts American Parties

155

How the Supreme Court Shapes (and is Shaped by) its Public Support

156

How Overpoliced Communities Become Politically Engaged

157

How Republicans Lost 2018 by Being Too Close to Trump

158

How Protests Change Parties and Elections

159

How Much Do Vice Presidential Running Mates Matter?

160

What Became of Never Trump Republicans?

161

Republicans Successfully Politicized Ebola. Can They Do it Again in 2020?

162

Why are Black Conservatives Still Democrats?

163

How Anxiety and Crises Change Our Political Behavior

164

How News and Social Media Shape American Voters

165

How Record Television Advertising Is Shaping American Elections

166

How to Build Institutions, Not Political Hobbies

167

Can America Become a Multiparty System?

168

Did Americans' Racial Attitudes Elect Trump?

169

Women's Voting Over 100 Years

170

Will Trump Anger Motivate Black Turnout?

171

Do Republicans and Democrats Get Different Results?

172

Do Early Primary States Still Pick Presidents?

173

The Electoral Effects of Impeachment

174

How Trump Politicized Refugees

175

How Bureaucrats Make Good Policy

176

Have Conservatives Transformed the States?

177

The American Public's Growing Ideological Sophistication

178

Why Americans Dislike Government, Even When It Works

179

How Presidential Debates Influence Voters

180

Ep 48: Will a Good Economy Save Trump?

181

Explaining the Urban-Rural Political Divide

182

Can Diversity and Liberalism Rise Together?

183

Do the Parties Favor White Male Candidates?

184

If Moderates are Electable, Why are Ideologues Winning?

185

How Medicaid and Obamacare Drive Voting

186

How Not-In-My-Backyard Politics Keep Housing Costs High

187

When and Where Can Climate Policy Succeed?

188

Higher Education: An Engine of Social Mobility...or a Driver of Inequality?

189

Episode 39: Is White Identity Causing an Immigration Backlash?

190

How Philanthropy Diverts Social Movements

191

Why Governments Give Away Economic Incentives That Increase Inequality

192

How Online Media Polarizes and Encourages Voters

193

Does Diversity in Congress Translate into Representation?

194

Did Chinese Trade Competition Increase Nativism and Elect Trump?

195

Are Divided Governments the Cause of Delays and Shutdowns?

196

How Public Policy Intentionally Segregated American Homeowners

197

Does Anyone Speak for the Poor in Congress?

198

Interpreting the 2018 Election

199

How Americans' Politics Drives Their Religious Views

200

How TV and Service Projects Impact What Americans Believe About Inequality

201

How the Democrat and Republican Parties Are Changing

202

How Marriage and Inequality Reinforce Political Polarization

203

How the Tea Party Paved the Way for Donald Trump

204

How Citizens Match their Issue Positions to Candidates and Causes

205

How Campaign Money Has Changed Elections After Citizens United

206

How the Federalist Society Changed the Supreme Court Vetting Process

207

Does Nationalized Media Mean the Death of Local Politics?

208

Did Facebook Really Polarize and Misinform the 2016 Electorate?

209

Who’s More Afraid of Democracy: the Center or the Right?

210

When Liberals and Conservatives Use Genetics to Explain Human Difference

211

How Labor Unions Impact Inequality - And Whether That Justifies the Legacy Costs They Leave

212

Anti-Immigration Politics: Is California's Past the Republicans' Future?

213

How Debt Finance Leads to War and Defense Spending

214

How Racial Stereotypes Impacted Voting for Obama and Trump

215

Are Red and Blue States Making Red and Blue Policies?

216

Are Americans Becoming Tribal, with Identity Politics Trumping All?

217

Do Americans Implicitly Trust Government, Despite our Public Anger?

218

The Resistance: Who is Protesting Trump and Are They Changing Public Views?

219

Congressional Primaries: How the Parties Fight Insurgents

220

Does the Tax Law Signal Change in How Parties use Tax Credits and Deductions?

221

Rules Around the Senate Filibuster

222

Multi-Racial Electoral Coalitions for Minority Candidates

223

How Gun Politics and Gun Policy Polarize America

224

How the House Freedom Caucus Gains Power in Congress

225

Polarized Opinion on Climate Change and Messages that Move Conservatives

226

Why Republican Women Don't Run for Office and Why It Matters for the Gender Gap in Voting

227

How Fox News Channel Spreads its Message and Persuades Viewers