Scope Conditions Podcast

The Bombs America Left Behind, with Erin Lin

Today on Scope Conditions: when the bombs don’t go off, the war isn't over. We tend to think of peace as beginning when the bombs stop falling. But as our guest tod

When Unequal Places Invest, with Alice Xu

Today on the podcast, why are more unequal neighborhoods sometimes better at promoting the collective good? A world of high inequality is, in many ways, a world in which

Rules of Law, with Egor Lazarev

Political analysts are thinking a lot these days about the rule of law: where it comes from, what sustains it, how it can break down. Those are hard enough questions in t

Violence as Campaign Strategy, with Niloufer Siddiqui

When we think of weak democracies around the world, we often think of their inability to maintain a monopoly on violence because of challenges outside the state – like mi

How Criminal Governance Undermines Elections, with Jessie Trudeau

In democracies all around the world, criminal organizations are involved in electoral politics. Notable examples include the Sicilian mafia and Pablo Escobar's drug

What College Dorms can teach us about Culture, with Joan Ricart-Huguet

Today on Scope Conditions: college dorms shed light on where group culture comes from and how it molds us. At Harry Potter’s alma mater, each new student is assigned to

Statecraft as Stagecraft, with Iza (Yue) Ding

Most governments around the world – whether democracies or autocracies – face at least some pressure to respond to citizen concerns on some social problems. But the issue

How the UN Keeps Peace Among Neighbors, with William G. Nomikos

Today on Scope Conditions, what’s the secret to successful peacekeeping? We often think of civil conflict as being driven by organized, armed groups – like rebel militia

Race-Based Coalitions in Three Chinatowns, with Jae Yeon Kim

Today on Scope Conditions: when is racial status a unifying force in politics? Shared experiences of prejudice and discrimination can sometimes help create shared politi

Can We Immunize Against Misinformation? with Sumitra Badrinathan

Today on Scope Conditions, can we teach voters how to tell truth from lies? Around the world, governments and political parties wield misinformation as a powerful politi

Trial and Terror, with Fiona Feiang Shen-Bayh

Today on Scope Conditions: why the judge’s gavel is sometimes mightier than the sword. Political trials – or show trials – are a well-known mode of repression in authori

Overcoming the Hijab Penalty, with Donghyun Danny Choi

Today on Scope Conditions: what drives discrimination against immigrants – and what can be done about it? When social scientists have sought to explain anti-immigrant bi

“Defunding the Police” as Transitional Justice, with Genevieve Bates

A little over two years ago, mass protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis, focused public attention on the dramatically hi

Partisan Polarization in Israel, with Chagai Weiss

Today on Scope Conditions, we’re talking about rising partisan animosity and what can be done about it. When we think about partisan polarization, we’re often thinking a

Online Dissent, Offline Repression, with Alexandra Siegel

Can autocrats fight online dissent with offline repression? In the world’s most authoritarian regimes, on-the-ground forms of protest or expressions of dissent are quick

Europe's Hidden Legal Architects, with Tommaso Pavone

Today on Scope Conditions, we’re talking about the origins of supranational power. The European Union has no army. It levies no taxes. Covering a population of 450 milli

Diagnosing Democracy's Representation Gap, with Sergio Montero

In this episode of Scope Conditions, we ask: what happens when your favorite candidate isn’t even running? We often think about the quality of democratic representation

How Palestine Polarized, with Dana El Kurd

Today on Scope Conditions, we’re speaking with Dr. Dana El Kurd, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Richmond, about her recent book, Polariz

Randomizing Together (Part 2), with Tara Slough and Graeme Blair

Today’s episode is Part 2 of our conversation about metaketas with Dr. Tara Slough, an Assistant Professor of Politics at NYU, who co-led with Daniel Rubenson a metaketa

Randomizing Together (Part 1), with Tara Slough and Graeme Blair

The last two decades have seen an explosion of field experimentation in political science and economics. Field experiments are often seen as the gold standard for policy