ClassInfo

Do citizens support candidates and parties because they agree with their values and interests? Or do citizens associate with candidates and parties because of their social identity? In other words, do politicians follow the preferences of voters or do voters just follow their preferred leaders on policy issues? An what are the implications for accountability and representation? In the beginning of the course we will first review the critique of democratic theory that is informed by findings in political psychology. Are people rational or motivated reasoners? Do they update their beliefs given new information or do they rationalize new information to fit their prior beliefs? Beyond such questions, we will discuss topics related to affective polarization, group bias, personality and core values. Finally, we will review research that suggests our genes and personality traits affect political behavior. We will then conclude by returning to the debate about democratic theory, focusing on how informational shortcut and ambivalent partisanship might mitigate the public's lack of political information and purported lack of rationality. By the end of this course students should be able to critically interrogate the debate about the possibilities of democratic accountability and representation in light of recent scholarship on political psychology.