POL 3767 is also offered in Spring 2025
POL 3767 is also offered in Fall 2021
Spring 2025 | POL 3767 Section 001: Political Psychology of Elite Behavior (65052)
- 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
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
Mon,
Wed 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
- Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 85 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Why do some world leaders seek cooperation while others advocate war? Why do some Presidents effect major change while others are relegated to the dustbin of history? How does the personality of leaders affect how they behave in office? In this class, we will address questions like these by exploring the psychology of political elites, those members of society who wield outsized influence over political decisions. This outsized influence means that understanding how elites think is particularly important. It is also unusually difficult, leading some to argue that political psychology can play little role in understanding elite decision-making. Students will exit the class having mastered a body of knowledge about elite decision-making and learned about 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. This course fulfills the Civic Life and Ethics theme requirement.
- Class Description:
- Can political psychology help us understand the behavior of presidents, party leaders and dictators? This course draws on the approaches of social and cognitive psychology to examine and explain the behavior of political leaders and other elites. We will cover judgement and decision making, the effect of personality and other individual differences, group processes, and other topics. In addition to these substantive topics, we will learn about the methods used by political scientists to study political elites.
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65052/1253
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 26 May 2015
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2025 Political Science Classes