ABSTRACT Objective This research investigates the salience of Donald Trump as a political issue and determinant of vote choice in the 2025 Canadian and Australian federal elections. Both countries held federal contests within 5 days of each other, and multiple news outlets and experts labeled them “anti‐Trump” elections. While center‐left incumbents secured upset re‐election wins in both countries, the actual importance of Donald Trump in shaping these outcomes warrants empirical examination. Methods We use original survey data collected in the aftermath of the two elections ( N = 1008) to assess how the salience of Donald Trump is related to vote choice in each country. Results We find that the salience of Donald Trump was linked to vote choice in both Canada and Australia, but the association was stronger in Canada. Conclusion Although both elections were widely framed as “anti‐Trump” contests, the role of Trump as a factor in vote choice varied across the two cases, suggesting that this characterization applies more readily to Canada than to Australia.

ABSTRACT Introduction Effective climate governance requires public support across partisan and institutional divides. Although climate concern, institutional trust, and political ideology are known predictors of environmental attitudes, their combined effects remain insufficiently understood. This study examines how these factors interact to shape support for climate‐related policies. Methods Survey data from 734 residents of the Austin, Texas metropolitan area in 2023 were analyzed using a series of regression models. Independent variables included climate concern and trust in government, nonprofit, and private institutions, with political ideology tested as a moderator. Results Greater climate concern consistently predicted stronger support for climate policies. Institutional trust was also positively associated with policy support. When disaggregated, trust in nonprofit organizations and government institutions significantly increased support, with nonprofit trust showing the strongest association. Trust in private‐sector actors was not significantly related to policy attitudes. Political ideology moderated these relationships: Republicans expressed lower support when institutional trust was low, but the partisan gap narrowed as trust increased. Higher income was associated with lower policy support. Conclusion Climate concern functions as a broad driver of policy support, while institutional trust operates as a conditional mechanism shaping partisan differences. Strengthening institutional legitimacy may help bridge ideological divides in climate governance.

ABSTRACT Objectives In this paper, we examine heterogeneity in popular perceptions of inflation in the United Kingdom and the United States. We examine heterogeneity both in terms of perceptions of the rate of inflation and, also, in perceptions of the causes of inflation. Methods We analyze opinion data from the United Kingdom (2023) and the United States (2024), which examines perceptions of the rate of inflation and its causes. Results In contrast to what might be expected given the rise in affective partisanship, we find that individual circumstances have a larger effect on driving perceptions of the rate of inflation than partisanship in both countries. Perceptions of inflation rate vary strongly and consistently by one's income: less well‐off voters in both countries see inflation as being much higher than do the better‐off. Over and above this pattern in perceptions, we also see that different voters hold different understandings of what is causing inflation. Heterogeneity in how voters understand how the economy works is distinct from that found in the literature to date. Conclusions Voters differ a great deal over what they believe to be the causes of inflation and see strong effects of ideological leanings. One implication of this finding of heterogeneity is that “one size fits all” communication strategies by parties or government, which focus on aggregate levels of inflation, are only likely to appeal to a subset of the population.

ABSTRACT Objectives This study explores public opinion toward global pop star Taylor Swift as a focal point gaining insights into contemporary political and social dynamics in the United States. Methods Drawing on national survey data, we investigate the intersection of partisanship, age, gender attitudes, and perceptions of Taylor Swift, a highly visible and successful woman. Results Our study reaches three important conclusions: First, views on Taylor Swift, like so much else in our society, are highly polarized by party and play an independent role in reinforcing partisan identities. Second, one of the sharpest divides on Taylor Swift is between Gen Z women and men, reflecting the pronounced gender divide among young voters that played a pivotal role in the 2024 presidential election. Finally, other than partisanship, the largest determinant of attitudes toward Taylor Swift is hostile sexism, wherein advances by women are seen as a threat. This effect manifests primarily among men, especially Republican men. Conclusion Like a “Mirrorball,” Swift has become a reflection of our society's deepest social and political fault lines and offers warning signs for the future of American politics.

ABSTRACT Objective This study investigates the relationship between countries’ carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and their residents’ perceptions of climate change, a topic of research that has yielded mixed results in previous studies. Methods Data from the 2020 International Social Survey Program and the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research v7.0 were used to determine how people's climate change perceptions— attribution and impact —are associated with their country's CO 2 emission indicators—total, per capita, and per gross domestic product (GDP) emissions. Results The findings indicate that residents of countries with high CO 2 per GDP (or carbon intensity of GDP) tend to underestimate the anthropogenic nature of climate change and its global impact compared to those with low CO 2 per GDP. Total and per capita emissions did not consistently associate with the citizens’ perceptions of climate change. Conclusion These findings advance our understanding of a contextual factor of climate change perception and citizens’ preference for the economic status quo.

ABSTRACT Politicization—the expansion of conflict in the political system—is often assumed to be associated with high levels of participation. Yet, this is not necessarily the case, especially in contexts of democratic backsliding. This study investigates how politicization of protest events affects individuals’ willingness to participate in protests, using Hungary as a most likely case. We examine three causal mechanisms that may mediate this effect: perceived risks of participation, political efficacy, and public support. Empirically, we rely on a pre‐registered survey experiment conducted in August 2024. To operationalize politicization, we manipulated the issue's salience, the polarization of positions presented, and the number of actors involved in the protest. Our findings challenge the prevailing assumption by demonstrating that increasing politicization leads to lower levels of protest participation. In addition, causal mediation analysis shows that this demobilizing effect is primarily due to reduced perceived political efficacy and expected public support.

ABSTRACTObjectiveSince the 1970s, research has documented various racial disparities in the National Basketball Association (NBA), yet discrimination at the point of league entry remains understudied. This study examines the likelihood that drafted players ultimately appear in an NBA game.MethodsWe constructed a dataset combining publicly available pre‐draft performance, demographic, and other information for drafted players, linked to records indicating whether they ever played in the league. We analyzed these data using descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression, and mixed‐effects models.ResultsAnalyses reveal evidence of racial disparities in league entry during the early 1980s, which declined steadily and disappeared by the early 2000s. We discuss potential social mechanisms underlying the disappearance of entry discrimination over the studied period