Society

In October 2024, Canada imposed a 100% tariff on all electric vehicle (EV) imports from China, effectively barring consumers from accessing some of the world's most innovative, affordable models. These tariffs are deepening the country's dependence on the United States and undermining its climate goals.... Read more

Global security indicators suggest a significant deterioration in peace and stability. By most accounts, the world is now more violent and more dangerous than at any point in recent history.... Read more

Aspiring autocrats are increasingly pressuring businesses to cooperate with their quest for wealth and power, such as by demanding they direct corporate funds towards their personal enrichment or fire personnel who are critical of them.... Read more

In a world of multiple upsetting events, from natural disasters to civil wars, terrorist attacks stand out as particularly alarming. They are surprising, brutal, and generally target the seemingly innocent. Terrorist groups rely on the shock value of these attacks to gain attention, financial backing, popular support, and new recruits... Read more

In November 2016, India's government abruptly invalidated its two highest-value banknotes, wiping out about 86% of the nation's cash supply overnight. Known as the Great Indian Demonetization, the move was intended to curb corruption and encourage the adoption of digital payments.... Read more

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) adolescents, especially girls, face disproportionately high rates of sexual violence compared to their peers in Hawaiʻi, according to a new University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa study.... Read more

A new study led by Professor Diego Garzia of the University of Lausanne, published in Public Opinion Quarterly, reveals a major shift in electoral motivation. In many Western democracies, voters are now more driven by opposition to their political adversaries than by support for their own side. This phenomenon marks... Read more

The issue of citizens' defense willingness has gained renewed urgency in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. For small and medium-sized states, which rely on whole-of-society defense efforts, such willingness is a prerequisite for a functioning total defense. A new study published in the journal European... Read more

Republican-leaning economists tend to predict stronger economic growth when a Republican is president than Democrats do—and because of this partisan optimism, their forecasts end up being less accurate.... Read more

A new study has found that demand for jobs could be just as important as skill level in how people feel about immigration.... Read more

Days of unrest in Nepal have resulted in the ousting of a deeply unpopular government and the deaths of at least 50 people.... Read more

Government scholars Suzanne Mettler and Trevor Brown both grew up in rural communities—and both were struck by how divided those small towns became.... Read more

UK voters are far more likely to see immigration from the EU as good for Britain after reading a short, positive message about a Polish migrant that highlights values such as hard work and duty, combining a personal narrative and emotional appeal with references to reliable data.... Read more

The fatal shooting of prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025, has brought renewed attention to the climate of political violence in America. Kirk's death reflects a sizable increase in threats against officeholders and politicians at the local and federal level.... Read more

Why do so many people return to crime after serving their sentence—even in Norway, with one of the world's most humane prison systems?... Read more

Earlier this week, thousands of mainly young people in Nepal took to the streets in mass protests triggered by the government's decision to ban 26 social media platforms.... Read more

Settling in a new country as a refugee comes with a variety of opportunities and challenges, from forming social connections, to navigating government services, and many others. The challenges can be greater for refugees with disability, our new research shows.... Read more

Women experience major consequences from water scarcity and pollution. Across the world, many women and girls lose education and employment opportunities due to spending long hours fetching water. They also face major health and safety risks due to lack of access to safe water to satisfy their menstrual and hygiene... Read more

Americans are more knowledgeable this year in answering basic civics questions, according to the Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey, conducted annually by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.... Read more

A recent study provides a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms driving polarization and issue alignment on Twitter/X and reveals how political polarization in Germany is reinforced and structured by two distinct types of highly active users: influencers and multipliers.... Read more

New research shows that Australia is lagging well behind Europe when it comes to digitized border control, adopting a "staggering" level of secrecy that is threatening individual democratic rights.... Read more

New research from Simon Fraser University (SFU) Biological Sciences researchers finds that Pacific salmon are facing escalating threats due to a lack of coordinated conservation policy and oversight.... Read more

Young people are under intense scrutiny. They are subject to community, media and policy concerns about everything from technology use to public safety.... Read more

President Donald Trump recently signed two executive orders targeting "cashless bail," the policies that permit the release of people arrested for crimes pending trial without requiring them to pay money.... Read more

Donald Trump's return to the White House has so far seen the U.S. president travel to foreign lands to sign billion-dollar deals, attend lavish royal welcomes and attempt to forge elusive peace agreements amid conflicts and crises. And on Sept. 17, 2025, he is expected to visit the United Kingdom... Read more

A groundbreaking new study from The University of Manchester has challenged traditional ideas of race and national identity in France, revealing how French citizens of Indian descent are navigating their identities in a society that often ignores them.... Read more

In October 2023, a group calling itself Return to the Land established its first "Whites only community" in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. They followed that with a second enclave nearby in 2025.... Read more

Speculation swirls about fugitive accused double murderer Dezi Freeman's potential ties to prepper groups and possible doomsday beliefs. There are even questions over whether he's hiding in a homemade underground bunker.... Read more

Conspiracy theories and incitement to harassment and violence abound on mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But the extreme content is often mixed with ironic play, memes and hashtags, which makes it difficult for authorities and media to know how to respond.... Read more

In the criminal justice system, decisions about when and how long to detain people have historically been made by other people, like judges and parole boards. But that process is changing: Decision-makers increasingly include artificial intelligence systems in a variety of tasks, from predicting crime to analyzing DNA to recommending... Read more

Carlotta Rigotti, postdoctoral researcher at eLaw—Center for Law and Digital Technologies, has published a new article, "Desire in Code: Legal Perspectives on Sex Robots and Consent," in Law, Culture and the Humanities.... Read more

National anthems are more than music for ceremonies—they reflect the unique cultural and geographical characteristics of nations. A new study published in Scientific Reports has analyzed the emotional characteristics of 176 national anthems using machine learning and music information retrieval (MIR).... Read more

After six centuries in Spain, discrimination against the Roma people remains "rooted in stereotypes based on ignorance and, in some cases, pseudo-knowledge about this community," explains Juan Jarque Jarque, who advocates for an inclusive education system that respects diverse values as a way to end antigypsyism and encourage greater Roma... Read more

Small business owners are more likely to identify with and vote for right-wing parties, according to a new study in the British Journal of Political Science. The research suggests it is the experience of being a small business owner that leads people to adopt conservative views on government regulation.... Read more

If your morning can't begin without coffee, you're in good company. The world drinks about 2 billion cups of coffee a day. However, a European Union law might soon affect your favorite coffee beans—and the farmers who grow them.... Read more

A survey exploring how rhetoric about the criminal prosecution of political leaders affects public attitudes finds that Donald Trump's prosecution ahead of the 2024 Republican presidential primaries had strikingly limited effects on reducing public support for Trump—but caused backlash against legal officials. More than 75 former presidents and prime ministers... Read more

Digital platforms have become the essential infrastructure of modern life. They power everything from our group chats to businesses, shopping, election campaigns and emergency coordination. They instantly connect us and continuously feed us information.... Read more

Proposals for new wind power infrastructure frequently face opposition in affected communities. While right-wing populists are often among the opponents, the question remains: are they actually driving these protests?... Read more

Psychologists have intensively studied the factors that make both eyewitnesses and victims more or less susceptible to memory distortion. But to date there has been no experimental evidence comparing memory suggestibility between the complainants and accused in sexual assault cases.... Read more

With control of Congress and a check on the Trump administration at issue in the 2026 midterm elections, the upcoming election cycle may again see claims of voter fraud. But warning voters beforehand that there may be false claims about the election, and providing them with information on election security... Read more

The Christchurch terrorist's so-called manifesto wasn't an honest account of his motives, but a calculated piece of propaganda designed to mislead the public, manipulate emotions and inspire further violence.... Read more

The fears are familiar: Artificial intelligence is going to eat our jobs, make our students weak and lazy and possibly destroy democracy for good measure.... Read more

Humor has become one of the most potent weapons in the populist politician's playbook. Comedic populists like Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Argentinian president Javier Milei use ridicule, absurdity and sarcasm not just to entertain, but to deflect criticism, confuse opponents and present themselves as relatable outsiders. Their... Read more

In World War II, Britain was fighting for its survival against German aerial bombardment. Yet Britain was importing dyes from Germany at the same time. This sounds curious, to put it mildly. How can two countries at war with each other also be trading goods?... Read more

The brains of politically extreme individuals, whether left- or right-leaning, appear to respond to and process political information in surprisingly similar ways, according to research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The paper is titled "Politically extreme individuals exhibit similar neural processing despite ideological differences."... Read more

AI is already changing the way many of us work, but in the delicate art of diplomatic relations between nations, a former diplomat has warned colleagues to be careful using the tool.... Read more

Growing dissatisfaction among the population, loss of trust in politics, increase in crime and violence: Economic inequality leads to a variety of social consequences. Nevertheless, the issue plays a much smaller role in the election manifestos of political parties both in Germany and in other countries than researchers had previously... Read more

University of Texas at Arlington researcher Kathleen Preble is expanding her human trafficking research from Missouri to Texas, aiming to create a blueprint other states can use to address this growing problem.... Read more

While previous research shows outrage and division drive engagement on social media, a new study of digital behavior during the 2024 US election finds that this effect flips during a major crisis—when "ingroup solidarity" becomes the engine of online virality.... Read more

More than 70% of voters in Colorado's Douglas County, conservative and progressive alike, voted "no" on home rule in June 2025. The ballot measure would have granted the county increased control over certain local matters such as building zoning, parking rules and sewer maintenance.... Read more