POL 3766 is also offered in Fall 2024
POL 3766 is also offered in Spring 2024
POL 3766 is also offered in Summer 2023
POL 3766 is also offered in Spring 2023
POL 3766 is also offered in Fall 2022
POL 3766 is also offered in Summer 2022
POL 3766 is also offered in Spring 2022
Summer 2023 | POL 3766 Section 001: Political Psychology of Mass Behavior (82527)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- Completely Online
- Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
Mon,
Wed 09:00AM - 11:30AM
Off Campus
UMN REMOTE
- Enrollment Status:
Open (19 of 25 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- How do people develop their political opinions? What makes people vote the way that they do? Why do some people love, and other loathe, Donald Trump? Understanding how ordinary citizens engage with the political sphere is essential to understanding how politics work. This course applies a psychological approach to understanding how average people - members of the mass public - think about politics, make political decisions, and decide how (and whether) to take political actions. We will explore arguments about the role that ideology, biological and evolutionary factors, personality, identity and partisanship, racial attitudes, and political discussion play in shaping the opinion and behavior of members of the mass public. In addition, this class introduces students to the methodology of political psychology and how political psychologists approach questions and attempt to understand the political world. Students will exit the class having mastered a body of knowledge about how they and their fellow citizens think about politics and the different approaches that scholars take to study these decisions. They will also gain the critical capacity to judge arguments about politics, the ability to identify, define, and solve problems, and the skill to locate and critically evaluate information relevant to these tasks. Finally, this course takes a cooperative approach to learning, and many course activities will be structured around learning and working with a group of fellow students over the course of the semester.
- Class Notes:
- This course will be offered online, with class sessions meeting synchronously.
- Class Description:
What do all citizens have in common? Although we are more divided than ever across partisan and ideological lines, we are, fundamentally, all human. This course reviews how several different aspects of human psychology influence public opinion and political behavior. How we discuss politics with others, our positions on major policy issues, the decision to vote in elections, and even how we interpret political information, are all shaped (at least in part) by psychological factors.
This course will cover seven broad thematic units. The first (1) focuses on the essential theories and methods underlying the study of political psychology, most generally. The remaining six describe how different aspects of psychology influence many aspects of public opinion and behavior, including: (2) personality traits, (3) emotion, (4) how we process political information, (5) core values and morality, (6) heritable and biological factors, and (7) how we identify with different groups in society. Along the way, we will relate core principles learned in each unit to central questions and challenges in political science more broadly; both in the U.S., and globally. - Grading:
- 15% - Attendance, Bi-Weekly "Discussion Tweets"
25% - Midterm Exam25% - Election 2016 Analysis (Research Paper)
35% - Final Exam - 35%
- Exam Format:
- Both the Midterm and Final Exams will feature multiple choice and short answer questions (defining key concepts). The final exam will also include an essay question touching on major themes in the course. The final exam is cumulative.
- Class Format:
- 50% lecture, 50% discussion.
- Workload:
- In addition to regular class attendance and completion of the exams/paper, students are expected to complete a short set of readings about relevant research and concepts prior to each class.
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/82527/1235
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 16 March 2017
ClassInfo Links - Summer 2023 Political Science Classes