The Science of Politics
The Niskanen Center’s The Science of Politics podcast features up-and-coming researchers delivering fresh insights on the big trends driving American politics today. Get beyond punditry to data-driven understanding of today’s Washington with host and political scientist Matt Grossmann. Each 30-45-minute episode covers two new cutting-edge studies and interviews two researchers.
Class, race, gender, and the 2024 election
Can we believe the polls?
Are Black voters moving to Trump?
How 'Woke' Are We?
How the campaigns battle for electoral college victory
How the diploma divide transformed American politics
Are American parties reviving or hollow?
What research on Black women candidates means for Kamala Harris
Can American identity reduce partisan animosity?
How think tanks drive polarization and policy
White racial sympathy
The impact of policy misinformation
When third parties matter
Why foreign policy is still bipartisan
Does the Biden economy have bad election timing or an unfair fed?
The Politics of Our Jobs
How will TikTok change politics?
How race makes us less punitive on opioid policy
Do Voters Dislike Old Candidates
Lessons from the COVID-era Welfare Expansion
How Bureaucrats Deal with Political Chaos Above
Elites Misperceive the Public
The Deterioration of Congress
The Two Sides of Immigration Backlash
Previewing 2024: How Voters Judge Presidents
Do presidents have the power to act alone?
Why presidents still spend their time raising money.
The decline of union Democrats
What explains the diploma divide?
Can state politicians be held accountable to the public?
Partisan election administrators don't tip the scales
Do the media drive presidential primaries?
Are claims that social media polarizes us overblown?
Don't expect extreme weather to spur climate policy change
Has American business turned left?
Will Supreme Court Opinions Provoke Public Backlash?
Are We Overproducing Elites and Instability?
How Parties Recruit and Limit Candidates
The causes and effects of budgeting under threat
How administrative burdens undermine public programs
How to reduce partisan animosity
Why Scandals Don’t Add Up to Damage Candidates
How Black voters choose candidates
How debates over diversity and equity came to dominate education politics
Racial minorities can win elections. Here's what's holding them back.
Changing how we elect presidents
How Congress communicates
Do moderate voters matter?
Judging Biden and Congress
The influence of Twitter on journalism and politics
How party leaders change Congress
How Early Voting is Changing American Elections
Does the 2022 election show how Democratic campaigns win?
How we connect our political beliefs
When partisanship forms our identity
How Misperceptions and Online Norms Drive “Cancel Culture”
When Information About Candidates Persuades Voters
When Public Opinion Goes to the Ballot Box
How primary elections enable polarized amateurs
Is democracy declining in the American states?
The past and future of polling
Why the baby boomers rule American politics
Did the Birchers win after all?
How much are polls misrepresenting Americans?
Abortion politics take center stage
Women in (and out of) Politics
Did economists move the Democrats to the right?
Descriptive Representation in Supreme Court Nominations
Putin’s War and Personalist Authoritarianism
Policymakers Follow Informed Expertise
How Does the Public Move Right When Policy Moves Left?
Does the Public Respond to Threats to Democracy?
U.S. Politics: The Hyper-Involved vs. The Disengaged
U.S. Democratic Decline in Comparative Perspective
Inflation Hurts Presidents, Especially Gas Prices—And It’s Not the Media’s Fault
How Politics Changes Our Racial Views and Identities
Childcare and Pre-K Expansion: Consensus or Polarization?
What Makes a Skilled and Conscious Mayor?
Can Democrats Design Social Programs that Survive?
The Future of the Biden Agenda in Congress
How the Left and Right Undermined Trust in Government
How the Media Economy Drives Political News
Why Lawyers Rule American Politics
The Growing Influence of the Non-Religious
The Role of Political Science in American Public Life
Why Rising Inequality Doesn't Stimulate Political Action
Reducing Polarization with Shared Values
Do Congressional Committees Still Make Policy?
Can TV News Keep Politics Local?
Is Demographic and Geographic Polarization Overstated?
How Voters Judge Congress
Conspiracy Beliefs are Not Increasing or Exclusive to the Right
The Resilience of the Filibuster and its Myths
Values and Racism in American Immigration Views
How Media Coverage of Congress Limits Policymaking
How Political Values and Social Influence Drive Polarization
When Partisans Endorse Violence
Right-Wing Extremism and the Capitol Insurrection
The Politics of School from Home
How Much Did Trump Undermine U.S. Democracy?
How Presidential Appointments Reveal Policy Goals and Elite Interests
Why Latinos Moved Toward Trump (and Why Most Are Still Democrats)
Compromise Still Works in Congress and with Voters
Interpreting the Early Results of the 2020 Election with G. Elliott Morris
How Court Nominations Polarize Interest Groups and Voters
Why Do Americans Accept Democratic Backsliding?
Racial Protest, Violence, and Backlash
How Rich White Residents and Interest Groups Rule Local Politics
How the Plutocrats Win from the Populist Right
The Roots of the Parties' Racial Switch
How Donor Opinion Distorts American Parties
How the Supreme Court Shapes (and is Shaped by) its Public Support
How Overpoliced Communities Become Politically Engaged
How Republicans Lost 2018 by Being Too Close to Trump
How Protests Change Parties and Elections
How Much Do Vice Presidential Running Mates Matter?
What Became of Never Trump Republicans?
Republicans Successfully Politicized Ebola. Can They Do it Again in 2020?
Why are Black Conservatives Still Democrats?
How Anxiety and Crises Change Our Political Behavior
How News and Social Media Shape American Voters
How Record Television Advertising Is Shaping American Elections
How to Build Institutions, Not Political Hobbies
Can America Become a Multiparty System?
Did Americans' Racial Attitudes Elect Trump?
Women's Voting Over 100 Years
Will Trump Anger Motivate Black Turnout?
Do Republicans and Democrats Get Different Results?
Do Early Primary States Still Pick Presidents?
The Electoral Effects of Impeachment
How Trump Politicized Refugees
How Bureaucrats Make Good Policy
Have Conservatives Transformed the States?
The American Public's Growing Ideological Sophistication
Why Americans Dislike Government, Even When It Works
How Presidential Debates Influence Voters
Ep 48: Will a Good Economy Save Trump?
Explaining the Urban-Rural Political Divide
Can Diversity and Liberalism Rise Together?
Do the Parties Favor White Male Candidates?
If Moderates are Electable, Why are Ideologues Winning?
How Medicaid and Obamacare Drive Voting
How Not-In-My-Backyard Politics Keep Housing Costs High
When and Where Can Climate Policy Succeed?
Higher Education: An Engine of Social Mobility...or a Driver of Inequality?
Episode 39: Is White Identity Causing an Immigration Backlash?
How Philanthropy Diverts Social Movements
Why Governments Give Away Economic Incentives That Increase Inequality
How Online Media Polarizes and Encourages Voters
Does Diversity in Congress Translate into Representation?
Did Chinese Trade Competition Increase Nativism and Elect Trump?
Are Divided Governments the Cause of Delays and Shutdowns?
How Public Policy Intentionally Segregated American Homeowners
Does Anyone Speak for the Poor in Congress?
Interpreting the 2018 Election
How Americans' Politics Drives Their Religious Views
How TV and Service Projects Impact What Americans Believe About Inequality
How the Democrat and Republican Parties Are Changing
How Marriage and Inequality Reinforce Political Polarization
How the Tea Party Paved the Way for Donald Trump
How Citizens Match their Issue Positions to Candidates and Causes
How Campaign Money Has Changed Elections After Citizens United
How the Federalist Society Changed the Supreme Court Vetting Process
Does Nationalized Media Mean the Death of Local Politics?
Did Facebook Really Polarize and Misinform the 2016 Electorate?
Who’s More Afraid of Democracy: the Center or the Right?
When Liberals and Conservatives Use Genetics to Explain Human Difference
How Labor Unions Impact Inequality - And Whether That Justifies the Legacy Costs They Leave
Anti-Immigration Politics: Is California's Past the Republicans' Future?
How Debt Finance Leads to War and Defense Spending
How Racial Stereotypes Impacted Voting for Obama and Trump
Are Red and Blue States Making Red and Blue Policies?
Are Americans Becoming Tribal, with Identity Politics Trumping All?
Do Americans Implicitly Trust Government, Despite our Public Anger?
The Resistance: Who is Protesting Trump and Are They Changing Public Views?
Congressional Primaries: How the Parties Fight Insurgents
Does the Tax Law Signal Change in How Parties use Tax Credits and Deductions?
Rules Around the Senate Filibuster
Multi-Racial Electoral Coalitions for Minority Candidates
How Gun Politics and Gun Policy Polarize America
How the House Freedom Caucus Gains Power in Congress
Polarized Opinion on Climate Change and Messages that Move Conservatives
Why Republican Women Don't Run for Office and Why It Matters for the Gender Gap in Voting