National economic indicators paint a picture of a steadily improving economy, yet Americans continue to disagree over whether the economy is improving or worsening. Here, we explain why opinions may differ so strongly, even after accounting for partisan biases.

The outcome of the Brexit referendum has sparked a wave of comments to understand who the Leave voters are. The evidence so far indicates that those who decided to leave the EU tend to be older, less educated and poorer than those who decided to remain in the EU. However, ...

When official treaty negotiations end, unofficial negotiations begin. Changes made during “legal scrubbing” can turn the original deal on its head as this text-as-data analysis shows.

Why do Republicans and Democrats disagree about the existence of climate change in the U.S.? One key factor has been the politicization of climate science. Politicization occurs when an actor accentuates the inherent uncertainty of science as a way to cast doubt on the existence of scientific consensus. The result ...

Migration, sexual violence and political parties A few years ago, streets in Switzerland were plastered with a poster displaying Ivan — a bulky male migrant convicted of rape — as being on the verge of obtaining Swiss citizenship. The people behind this widely debated poster were mostly from the Swiss ...

Yet another rejection: Aygül Muhiddin finds it frustratingly hard to get a job. If she could only be invited for a job interview so that they can learn how committed and hard-working she is! Aygül Muhiddin has a suspicion that she is discriminated against because of her name; after all, ...

Nate Silver is a statistician, writer, and the founder and editor-in-chief of the well-known blog FiveThirtyEight, who rose to fame in the political area through his incredibly accurate data-driven predictions of U.S. Presidential election results. Before the 2012 U.S. Presidential election Mr. Silver correctly predicted the outcomes in all 50 ...

An average of 30 percent of the British public have identified immigration as one of their most important concerns since 2003; in recent months, 50 per cent or more have named this as one of the most important issues facing the UK.

Bargaining between political parties over the allocation of cabinet seats in parliamentary coalitions has received attention from political scientists for over 50 years. For one, coalition bargaining is substantively important, as it determines the power distribution in many governments around the world. Additionally, it is an almost ideal situation to ...