Culture & Society

Economists have become increasingly interested in questions about populism over the last decade and particularly since Brexit and the election of American President Donald Trump. However, the definition of populism remains contested. Alan de Bromhead and Kevin O’Rourke argue that economists need a better understanding of populism’s history and its variegated goals when ascribing specific characteristics and behaviors to populists and their movements.

Social trust in democratic institutions affects the ability of those institutions to carry out policy. In new research, Rustam Jamilov shows how decreasing trust in the U.S. institutions has reduced the ability of the Federal Reserve to influence the economy in states that exhibit lower levels of trust.

In new research, Guglielmo Briscese and Michèle Belot find that reminding Americans of shared values can open lines of communication and help reduce political polarization.

A political movement in the U.S. is encouraging municipalities and states to adopt ranked choice voting as a supposedly more representative voting method. In...

Democratic elections suffer from several shortcomings, including low voter turnout and the effects of inaccurate polling. Sergiu Hart suggests adopting a simple repeat voting...

There is a significant ongoing debate in the United States on the merits of plurality voting (how most American elections are conducted) and how...

Most attention on corporate governance has focused on businesses’ social responsibility. Claudine Schneider and Ed Dolan write that businesses need to take into account...

Most work on populism has investigated the reasons why voters choose populist leaders and governments. In new research, Moritz Schularick,  Christoph Trebesch, and  Manuel...

Lucian Bebchuk and Oliver Hart explain why Israel’s proposed legal transformation would undermine not only its democracy but also its economy. Israel’s ruling coalition is...

In response to ProMarket's debate about the Twitter Files and the roles of social media and traditional media, Surya Gowda argues that a more...