Zach Dickson

How Google Maps quietly allocates survival across London’s restaurants - and how I built a dashboard to see through it I wanted a dinner recommendation and got a research agenda instead. Using 13000+ restaurants, I rebuild its ratings with machine learning and map how algorithmic visibility actually distributes power.

I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...

Great postdoc opportunity to work with one of the best and brightest out there

Looking forward to presenting my research on energy prices and backlash to climate policies tomorrow at @granthamlse.bsky.social

If you’re at LSE and have some free time from 1-2:30, come join!

www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminst...

🚨 LSE Assistant Professor in Political Science 🚨

We’re hiring a tenure-track assistant professor - any area of empirical political science - to join our wonderful Government Dept @lsegovernment.bsky.social

Any questions, please reach out to me

📣 Please share! 📣

jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

We actually have a paper that finds exactly that!

osf.io/preprints/so...

🚨 New working paper 🚨

We often see populist parties like Reform UK blame higher energy bills on climate change policies. What are the political consequences of this strategy?

Very early draft; comments and criticisms are welcomed!

full draft: z-dickson.github.io/assets/dicks...

Do people in the Labour party think that you can recover from this? Is there any historic precedent for turning something like this around? Starmer has tied himself to a strategy, that strategy has failed. The consequence should be quite clear.

UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.

Research on this is clear: the uncertainty created by this policy will lead to people integrate less into British society. It is trading-off the reasonable policy goal of integration for the useless symbolism of immigration numbers. Bad policy to appease the far right.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...

The evidence keeps accumulating that Brexit was an astonishing self-inflicted economic policy disaster. The fact that it is a slow-moving one bodes ill for those who think that populist economic mismanagement will translate into voters punishing populists. www.nber.org/system/files...

"While testing one dimension at a time can yield simple results, those effects may not generalise to richer, real-world contexts."

Read our new POAL Methods Briefs on Conjoint Experiments from Thomas Robinson!

Link: www.poal.co.uk/research/met...

great analysis!

🚨 New LSE job in political science 🚨

We're looking for a *Full or Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy* to join the LSE School of Public Policy

Please share!

jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Great opportunity if you’re interested in pursuing a PhD in political science at @lsegovernment.bsky.social - with a particular interest in elections and campaigning ⬇️

I usually agree with Klein but I’m surprised/disappointed that he seems to suggest that sacrificing the political rights of certain groups in exchange for electoral victory should be a potential pathway forward for the Democratic Party

Accommodation isn’t the answer

Good to see this important research getting a wider audience. Hope Labour advisors listen and learn

Labour continues to alienate its base by taking unpopular positions to appeal to a group of voters that likely would not even consider the party as a viable option at the polls

Living with the planet LATE Tackle big questions and explore bold ideas about the future of our planet in this season’s British Academy Late. Immerse yourself in the sounds and music of the rainforests of Papua New Guinea; discu...

Thrilled to be giving a short talk on the politicization of climate change for the britishacademy.bsky.social 's Living with the planet LATE event!

It's open to the public, so if you're in central London Oct 9, stop by! Details below ⬇️

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/livin...

🚨 Reminder: EuroWEPS-🇮🇹 applications are due 30 September 👇

Just a reminder that Starmer's accommodation of the radical right has not paid any electoral dividends to date. It's difficult to imagine circumstances in which it would...

Great opportunity in a great department!

Great lineup this year!

Political violence is always bad and should always be condemned, but I disagree with Ezra's take that Kirk's practice of preaching white supremacy and spreading dangerous misinformation was "practicing politics the right way"

We're excited to share some EPSS @epssnet.bsky.social updates with you - and we're so grateful to the political science community in Europe (and beyond!) for the amazing support 👇

Radical-right parties are often linked to the “left-behind”. But supporting them when stigma is strong is costly. So who is willing to pay that cost early on, before it’s normalized?

In my new WP, I argue that breaking political norms is socially stratified. 🧵👇

Opinion | Stop Acting Like This Is Normal

Excellent piece by Ezra Klein: if Dems really believe that Trump is creating an authoritarian government they should not continue to fund it. The shutdown is their only leverage right now to draw attention to what is happening and maybe force change.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...

We have a paper on how Labour's strategy is disastrous.

There's an exclusive coverage in @newstatesman.com

www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

Radical right accommodation really does not work.

New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

London Experimental Seminar Series in Political Science We are inviting submissions for the London Experimental Seminar Series in Political Science (LESS), a new forum for discussing experimental political science research among researchers at London unive...

📢 Call for Papers – London Experimental Seminar Series (LESS) in Political Science @lsegovernment.bsky.social.
We are launching a new forum for experimental political science research: First seminar: 19/11/2025. Deadline: 31/08/2025. Submit here: forms.gle/ZUJcBbZoDoaY...

Apply to EuroWEPS 12/13! We're organizing the next EuroWEPS workshops at Bocconi (Nov 14) and EUI (Dec 15) to discuss designs/papers focusing on causal inference. No presentations, just constructive discussions. Early career scholars are especially welcome to apply! Submission deadline is Sep 30