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
Fall 2024 | POL 3766 Section 001: Political Psychology of Mass Behavior (32373)
- 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 RequirementOnline Course
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session09/03/2024 - 12/11/2024Tue, Thu 04:00PM - 05:15PMUMTC, West BankWest Bank Skyway AUDITORIUM
- Enrollment Status:
- Open (25 of 85 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/?POL3766+Fall2024
- Class Description:
- This course examines the influence of human nature on political decision making among members of the mass public, asking questions about how human thought processes, emotions, and personality influence political judgments. Political theorists have long disagreed over basic human nature and have advanced different solutions to political governance as a consequence, ranging from participatory democracy to authoritarian regimes. In this course, we carefully consider how well we, as humans, are equipped to deal with different forms of political governance, especially democracy. We examine different aspects of human psychology, including personality, motivation, values, information processing, emotion and intergroup behavior, as well as proximal and distal biological processes (e.g., physiology, genetics, evolution), and consider their influence on political decision making. Readings are drawn from psychology and political science. No prior in-depth knowledge of either psychology or political science is needed to succeed in the course. It would help to have a general interest in politics, however. The course begins with an introductory reading in political psychology, designed to provide an overview of the field. We will then begin a section of the course on obedience to authority, which examines the power of social context and perceptions of legitimate authority in altering social and political behavior. We then consider the impact of group life on political preferences. To what extent do political preferences spring from our membership in groups and our views of other groups in society (including nations)? We will consider the impact of in-group attachments (to one's race, gender or nation), followed by a consideration of how animosity towards outsiders can escalate into prejudice, or even genocide.
- 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/32373/1249
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 16 March 2017
ClassInfo Links - Fall 2024 Political Science Classes
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