POL3766H

The course examines the influence of human nature on political decision making among members of the mass public, asking questions about how personality, the political environment and their interaction influence political perceptions, preferences, and behavior. The course begins with a consideration of the nature and influence of partisan polarization on mass political behavior. We will cover the following questions? In what way(s) are we polarized—issues? identity?—and how does that influence our political thinking and political choices? What is the normative nature of partisan polarization (i.e., is it good or bad for democracy)? What does it say about the nature of partisanship (is it a primarily a psychological attachment based on underlying social identities or does it result from a rational calculation of potential policy benefits?). Next, we will consider the impact of evolutionary psychology on political processes in the context of moral reasoning. Here, we will consider the deep roots of moral psychology, how intuitive moral reasoning—versus deliberative reasoning—guides political judgment and choice, and how and why the moral reasoning of liberals and conservatives differs. Here, we will examine how liberalism in the U.S. ignores values that are important in other parts of the world, and to those without college educations. This part of the course is intended in part to explain the education divide in contemporary American politics, and to explore ways in which our political opponents may come to show greater respect for one another. Next, the course considers a perennial issue in mass politics: the role of race. We will examine when and why racial attitudes and race matters (and when and why it doesn’t) in electoral politics. Mass politics has become more polarized by racial attitudes since President Obama’s rise to prominence. The Obama presidency was marked by a racially polarized era where racially liberal and racially conservative Americans were more divided over a whole host of political positions than they had been in modern times. Finally, we will read a set of contemporary journal articles in political psychology that cover a variety of topics, from personality dispositions related to authoritarianism to the nature of reactionary movements in American politics to how individual variation in political engagement structures mass political behavior. This course is for anyone who has ever wondered about why people vote the way they do, whether humans—or, at least, Americans—are well suited to democracy, why people hold differing political views, and whether it is possible for different groups of people to peacefully co-exist. Lectures provide grounding in psychological theory and evidence and demonstrate the application of psychological theory to political behavior. Readings complement lectures by providing a more detailed exposure to original research and the theories covered in class.

03293

Periodic Spring