POL 330

Electing the President: Voter Psychology and Candidate Strategy (undergraduate lecture, formerly “Campaigns and Elections”)

Spring 2004, Fall 2004, Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2012, Spring 2019
This class examines how election campaigns affect voters. The primary focus is on the nature of modern elections campaigns and their impact on people’s political reasoning and voting behavior. The goal of this class is to provide a theoretical understanding of campaign conduct and effects. We use that understanding to explain the outcomes of recent presidential elections. The class presents an overview of the different explanations of how people make voting decisions, from stable long-term factors (such as partisan identification) to short-term term influences of campaign and media coverage. It illustrates that people’s political behavior is best understood by examining short- and long-term factors at different electoral levels (presidential, Senate, House), in different communication environments (large vs small districts, media markets), and for different groups of people (e.g., politically interested/uninterested).

SPI 521

Domestic Politics (MPA seminar)

Fall 2007, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022
This class introduces students to scholarly analyses of politics and policy-making in the contemporary United States. The focus is on developing tools for the analysis of politics in any setting – national, state, or local. A guiding question throughout the seminar asks if public policy – laws, rules, and regulations – reflects what the public wants. Addressing this question requires an understanding of public opinion and its role in the policy-making process. How do we know “what the public wants”? What if “the public” cannot agree or does not know what it wants? What are the channels by which public opinion affects lawmakers? Public opinion is not the only – nor perhaps the dominant – factor determining public policy. The seminar also examines the role of institutions (legislatures, the executive branch, and the courts) and interest groups in policy-making. This part of the course asks under what conditions elected officials ignore the public and when institutional features reduce the correspondence between public opinion and policy. Throughout the seminar, we return to broad questions about representation and accountability.

POL 544

Introduction to American Politics, Part I: Political Behavior (Ph.D. seminar)

Spring 2011, 2018, 2020, Fall 2021, 2023
This seminar is part of the two-course sequence of the core curriculum in American Politics. It examines mass political behavior, including public opinion, political psychology, elections, and representation. It seeks to explain how and to what extent people become involved in politics, how they form political opinions, and how their behavior influences political outcomes. The seminar will cover a range of behaviors, including learning about politics, information processing, political participation, and voter decision-making.