Public Policy

Looking at Censuses Past and Future: A Talk With Andrew Whitby
Bookshelf
April 1, 2020

Looking at Censuses Past and Future: A Talk With Andrew Whitby

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How Prisoners, Soldiers and Missionaries Complicate the Census
Census
March 31, 2020

How Prisoners, Soldiers and Missionaries Complicate the Census

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Frances Perkins Was Ready!
Insights
March 31, 2020

Frances Perkins Was Ready!

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COVID, the Census, and the Looming University Undercount
Census
March 24, 2020

COVID, the Census, and the Looming University Undercount

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LSE Impact: Social Science in a Time of Social Distancing

LSE Impact: Social Science in a Time of Social Distancing

Social science, argues Michael Taster of the LSE Impact blog, has an important role to play, by directly contributing to policy surrounding COVID-19 and its impacts, but also by acting as a critical friend, which raises the urgent question: how can this wealth of knowledge and expertise best be communicated?

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We Should Talk About ‘Distant Socializing’ Instead of ‘Social Distancing’

We Should Talk About ‘Distant Socializing’ Instead of ‘Social Distancing’

The same technologies that people once blamed for tearing society apart might be our best chance of staying together during the COVID-19 outbreak, says Stanford’s Jamil Zaki.

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What the AIDS Response Can Teach Us for Addressing COVID

What the AIDS Response Can Teach Us for Addressing COVID

The ways in which epidemics interact with human society suggest that much can be learned from previous epidemics. Drawing on the historical response to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, Donald Nicolson describes four parallels between the responses to these outbreaks and suggests what lessons can be learned by public health authorities responding to COVID-19.

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Twixt Duck and Rabbit: Psychological Biases and Bad Coronavirus Policy

Twixt Duck and Rabbit: Psychological Biases and Bad Coronavirus Policy

Crises rarely see human decision-making operating at its best. Politicians and policymakers have to make important decisions in unfamiliar circumstances, with vast gaps in the available information, and all in the full glare of public scrutiny. The psychology of decision making doesn’t just tell us a lot about the potential pitfalls in our own thinking – it alerts us to ways in which some of the world’s governments may go astray.

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Don’t Tell Me ‘Don’t Panic …’

Don’t Tell Me ‘Don’t Panic …’

David Canter considers what panic really is and why its main cause is … telling people not to panic.

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How Coronavirus Became a Political Problem

How Coronavirus Became a Political Problem

The Italian government’s decision to expand its lockdown from two small areas of the north to encompass the entire country is a sign of its increasing desperation to control the spread of novel coronavirus. The number of positive cases by the evening of March 9 stood at at least 7,000 with more than 400 people having lost their lives. This has even been described as Italy’s “darkest hour” by Giuseppe Conte, the country’s prime minister.

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NYU’s Social Science for Impact Forum

NYU’s Social Science for Impact Forum

Each year, NYU researchers analyze New York State Medicaid, New York City Department of Education, and New York City subsidized housing data to discover new patterns of family experiences and outcomes and inform new approaches to fighting poverty, reducing inequality, and expanding opportunity in our communities.

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Ruth Wodak on How to Become a Far-Right Populist

Ruth Wodak on How to Become a Far-Right Populist

Depending on your views, far-right populism can represent a welcome return to the past , or a worrying one. The former, argues sociolinguist Ruth Wodak in this Social Science Bites podcast, is one of the hallmarks of far-right populism – a yearning for an often mythical past where the “true people” were ascendant and comfortable.

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