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
Spring 2024 | POL 3766 Section 001: Political Psychology of Mass Behavior (67699)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person
- Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Online Course
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 255
- Enrollment Status:
Open (49 of 55 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:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/?tpcollin+POL3766+Spring2024
- Class Description:
- What makes people have the political attitudes and behaviors they do? What drives Americans to be conservatives or liberals? How do those drivers work? And what does all of that mean for American politics?
Through readings, lectures, and discussions, we will work toward answers to those questions in this course, which is divided into three primary sections. In Unit I, we will have a broad overview of the foundational literature in the discipline of political psychology, including journal articles and book chapters. In Unit II, we will use what we learned in Unit I to color our reading of Mason's Uncivil Agreement (2018). Then, in Unit III, we will cover what could be the next frontier of our understanding of who we are as political animals by reading Hibbing, Smith, and Alford's Predisposed (2013), and incorporating related work.
- Grading:
Midterm Exam = 25%
Final Exam = 25%
Quizzes = 20%
Term Paper = 20%
Participation = 10%
- 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/67699/1243
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 20 October 2023
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2024 Political Science Classes