UCL Uncovering Politics

Modern democracies rest on elections. They are the main way voters are supposed to shape what governments do. In theory, elections ensure that public policy reflects what people want. But does that actually happen in practice? Political science has long been divided on this question.
One side of the debate argues that elections can work as intended. Voters understand the difference between left and right. They have a sense of where political parties sit on that spectrum. They broadly know where they themselves stand. And they choose which party to support on that basis.
Another influential strand of research is far more sceptical. It suggests that most voters do not have clear or well formed policy preferences at all. And when they do, those preferences often come after choosing a party, not before. Voters identify with a party first, then adopt that party’s positions as their own.
This debate has been running for decades. But a new book offers a third perspective that could help move things forward. It argues that the debate has set the bar too high for what counts as a meaningful voter preference. Once we measure preferences in a more realistic way, a clearer picture starts to emerge.
One of the authors of that book is our very own Ben Lauderdale, friend of the podcast and Professor of Political Science here in the UCL Department of Political Science. We are delighted that Ben joins us this week to walk us through the research and what it tells us about how voters really think.
Mentioned in this episode:
Idiosyncratic Issue Opinion and Political Choice, by Nick Vivyan, Benjamin E Lauderdale, Chris Hanretty.



UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.

In this guest episode from Philosophically Speaking, Emily McTernan and Jeff Howard explore a provocative question. Can white men be discriminated against, and if so, should the law protect them in the same way it protects other groups?
To help unpack this, they are joined by Professor Cécile Laborde, who discusses her recent work on structural inequality and the moral foundations of discrimination law. Drawing on her article 'Structural Inequality and the Protectorate of Discrimination', published in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, Cécile challenges common assumptions about who discrimination law is for and why.
Mentioned in this episode:
Philosophically Speaking podcast
'Structural Inequality and the Protectorate of Discrimination' by Cécile Laborde



UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.

News headlines are increasingly dominated by concerns about the harms young people face online. In late 2025, Australia introduced a ban preventing under-16s from accessing a range of major social media platforms. Here in the UK, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has publicly backed a similar approach, and at the time of recording there is widespread speculation that the UK government may be preparing to follow suit - perhaps even by the time you’re listening to this episode.
But how do young people themselves experience the online spaces they inhabit? Do they see digital content as harmful, empowering, or something more complex? And crucially, what do they think should be done to make the online world safer and more constructive?
In this episode, we explore these questions with Dr Emma Connolly, Research Fellow in the UCL Department of Political Science and a member of UCL’s Digital Speech Lab, where she leads research on digital civic education.
Mentioned in this episode:
How does social media content go viral across platforms? Modelling the spread of Kamala is brat across X, TikTok, and Instagram, Journal of Information Technology & Politics



UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.

For decades, political scientists believed that a person’s occupation was the strongest predictor of how they would vote. Manual, working-class jobs were associated with left-wing voting, while white-collar professions leaned right.
In recent years, however, this class-based model has been challenged. Education level and age now often predict voting behaviour more accurately than occupation, alongside the growing importance of cultural and identity-based issues such as immigration, gender, and morality.
But does this mean economic status no longer matters in politics? According to new research, the answer is no. Economic status remains a powerful predictor of voting behaviour - but the foundations of that status have changed. Rather than occupation, housing has emerged as a central factor shaping political preferences.
In this episode, Prof Alan Renwick explores this shift with Josh Goddard, a PhD student in the UCL Department of Political Science, whose research sheds new light on how housing has become a key driver of political divides.
Mentioned in this episode:
Josh Goddard (2026) Housing and electoral behaviour: The changing face of class voting in advanced democracies. Electoral Studies, Volume 99



UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.

In today’s episode, we are joined by the author of a new book published by Princeton University Press. The book offers a bold reimagining of global justice, drawing on anticolonial thought to confront the unfinished work of decolonization. Rather than defending decolonization as a nationalist project, it advances a powerful vision of global social equality.
Our guest is Dr. Shuk Ying Chan, Assistant Professor of Political Theory at UCL Political Science. Regular listeners will recall her previous appearances on the podcast, including episodes on resisting colonialism and the trouble with exporting Hollywood films.
In Postcolonial Global Justice, Shuk Ying Chan proposes a new account of global justice centered on the value of social equality. Drawing on the ideas of Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah, and Jawaharlal Nehru, Chan argues that a core commitment of anticolonial thought is the rejection of hierarchy and the embrace of equality. These insights from decolonization, she suggests, give us critical tools for challenging contemporary global hierarchies and for rejecting forms of postcolonial nationalism that are more focused on policing citizens than promoting their freedom and equality.



UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.