Partisans, Public Opinion and Elections: Understanding the Political Mind

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Explain some of the determinants of political attitudes and the processes through which people form their opinions
• Demonstrate understanding of key theories in political behaviour

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Recognise the different sorts of research methods that can help us identify and analyse political beliefs and behaviour
• Apply existing theoretical frameworks to explain contemporary examples of public opinion

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Apply theories of political behaviour to empirical data relating to public psychology and political behaviour

This course considers some of the seminal contributions to modern political science and in the subfields of political behaviour and political psychology, addressing the following topics:

1. Mass Belief Systems

2. Partisanship

3. Political Socialisation

4. Information Processing, Heuristics and Choice

5. Communication, Framing and Biases

6. Voting Behaviour

7. Campaigns and Election Outcomes

8. Participation, Activism and Turnout

9. Trust in Government

10. Leaders, Approval and Competence

11. Macro Politics: Public Opinion and Policy

Teaching and learning methods

There is a double lecture every week, the first half of which is a traditional lecture and the second half of which involves an interactive seminar style session. There is a bi-weekly group meeting slot, in which groups will meet to develop their research projects. Full attendance is expected. Throughout the course you will work in groups on a project-based assignment, and the content of the seminars will be focused on the successive stages of the assignment. The group meetings are designed to enable you to reflect on what you have learned from lectures and reading and to develop plans for the project on political behaviour. The project will require you to work with a group of your peers. At the start of the course, groups will choose a project with an objective relating to one of the topics covered during the course. You will receive guidance on key readings, questions to ask about research design, a list of possible methods, suggested resources or data sources that you might use. The final decisions on the project design will be taken collectively by the group. The interactive (seminar) part of the lecture will be dedicated to activities such as group presentations on theories of political behaviour related to your project, discussions of how to develop hypotheses and design the study and select methods (e.g. case studies, experiments, and analyses of survey data). I will provide all groups with advice and guidance on the assignment throughout the duration of the course. You will each write up your own report of the assignment.

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Other. Students will be encouraged to acquaint themselves with survey data from the British Social Attitudes Survey, British Election Study, American National Election Studies and other sources of information on political attitudes. They will be encouraged to relate ideas from the module to current events in politics, e.g. public opinion on particular issues, the public response to events. These sorts of material will also be relevant to the research project.

Lecture/seminar room with presentation equipment..

Internet Resources

Introduction to Political Psychology.

Journal Articles

Jon A. Krosnick and Donald R. Kinder (1990). Altering the Foundations of Public Support for the President through Priming. American Political Science Review, 84, pp. 497-512.

Larry M. Bartels (1993). Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media Exposure. American Political Science Review, 87, pp. 267-285.

Textbooks

Arthur Lupia, Mathew D. McCubbins, and Samuel L. Popkin (eds.). (2000). Elements of Reason: Cognition, Choice, and the Bounds of Rationality.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

David O. Sears, Leonie Huddy, and Robert Jervis (2003). Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pippa Norris (2022). In Praise of Skepticism: Trust But Verify. New York: Oxford University Press.

James A. Stimson (2004). Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Shanto Iyengar and Donald Kinder (1987). News That Matters.. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Donald Green, Bradley Palmquist, and Eric Schickler (2004). Partisan Hearts and Minds. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Russell J. Dalton and Hans-Dieter Klingemann (eds.). (2007). Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

John Zaller (1992). The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion . Cambridge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jane Green, Will Jennings (2017). The Politics of Competence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Paul M. Kellstedt, and Guy D. Whitten. (2013). The Fundamentals of Political Science Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Morris P. Fiorina (1981). Retrospective Voting in American National Elections. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Assessment strategy

1. Five bi-weekly Blackboard quizzes on the readings. 15%.

2. Learning log (three topics), up to 1,200 words, 25%. Formative mock learning log (0%) is optional.

3. Research project report (Individual report of the project carried out by the group). 60%.

If a resit is required, this will be assessed on the research project report alone (100%).

The research project is designed as an empirical analysis of political behaviour. This may employ either qualitative or quantitative methods, e.g. it may use descriptive/inferential statistics or undertake a case study of a particular event or set of events. Key is that you must make use of empirical data to test theories encountered on the course. You will make use of an existing dataset (e.g. the British Election Study), or create your own data with your group.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External