17.200
American Political Behavior I
Analyzes mass political behavior within the American political system. Examines political ideology, party identification, public opinion, voting behavior, media effects, racial attitudes, mass-elite relations, and opinion-policy linkages. Surveys and critiques the major theoretical approaches and empirical research in the field of political behavior.
Fall 2016 · Graduate Seminar in American Politics I: Political Behavior
Topics
- Introduction
- Micro Public Opinion: Ideology and Opinion Formation
- Micro Public Opinion: Cognition, Information, and Knowledge
- Micro Public Opinion: Groups, Self-Interest, and Symbolic Politics
- Macro Public Opinion and Representation
- Party Identification
- Social Influence and Context
- Political Communication and Media
- Political Participation and Voter Turnout
- Voting Behavior I: Political Campaigns
- Voting Behavior II: Vote Choice and Political Accountability
- Other Political Participation
- Political Inequality and Participation/Policy Feedback Effects
Readings
- Readings marked with an * can be swapped on a one-for-one basis between the required and optional lists.
- Chapters 6-8, 10 in Campbell, Angus, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. The American Voter . University of Chicago Press, 1980.
- Chapters 1, 2 in Achen, Christopher H., and Larry M. Bartels. Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government . Princeton University Press, 2016.
- Pages 206-261 in Apter, David Ernest, ed. Ideology and Discontent . New York: Free Press, 1964.
- Feldman, Stanley. “Values, Ideology, and the Structure of Political Attitudes.” In Huddy, Leonie, David O. Sears, and Jack S. Levy, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology . Oxford University Press, 2003.
- Chapters 1, 2 in Hochschild, Jennifer L. What’s Fair?: American Beliefs About Distributive Justice . Harvard University Press, 1986.
- Kinder, Donald R. “Belief Systems After Converse.” In MacKuen, Michael and George Rabinowitz, ed. Electoral Democracy . University of Michigan Press, 2003.
- Downs, Anthony. An Economic Theory of Democracy . Harper and Row, 1957.
- Chapters 1-5, 7 in Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion . Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Chapters 1, 2 in Lodge, Milton, and Charles S. Taber. The Rationalizing Voter . Cambridge University Press, 2013.
- Introduction in Carpini, Michael X. Delli, and Scott Keeter. What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters . Yale University Press, 1997.
- Chapter 4 in Carpini, Michael X. Delli, and Scott Keeter. What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters . Yale University Press, 1997.
- Kinder, Donald R. “Diversity and Complexity in American Public Opinion.” In Finifter, Ada, ed. Political Science: The State of the Discipline . APSA Press, 1983.
- Chapters 1, 15, 24 in Key, Valdimer. Southern Politics in State and Nation ." University of Tennessee Press, 1984.
- Chapter 1 in Sears, David O., Jim Sidanius, and Lawrence Bobo. Racialized Politics: The Debate About Racism in America . University of Chicago Press, 2000.
- Chapters 1, 6, 7 in Mendelberg, Tali. The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality . Princeton University Press, 2001.*
- Chapters 1, 2, 6 in Tesler, Michael, and David O. Sears. Obama’s Race: The 2008 Election and the Dream of a Post-Racial America . University of Chicago Press, 2010.*
- Chapters 1, 2, 8, 9 in Page, Benjamin I., and Robert Y. Shapiro. The Rational Public: Fifty Years of Trends in Americans’ Policy Preferences . University of Chicago Press, 1992.
- Pages 1-82 in Stimson, James A. Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics . Cambridge University Press, 2015.
- “Theories of Retrospective Voting.” Chapter 1 in Fiorina, Morris. Retrospective Voting in American National Elections . Yale University Press, 1981.
- Chapters 1-3, 5, 8 in Green, Donald P., Bradley Palmquist, and Eric Schickler. Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identities of Voters . Yale University Press, 2004.
- “Social Process.” Chapter 6 in Berelson, Bernard, Paul F. Lazarsfeld, and William N. McPhee. Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign . University of Chicago Press, 1954.
- “Partisan Polarization in the High-Choice Media Environment.” Chapter 7 in Prior, Markus. Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Media Choice Increases Inequality in Political Involvement and Polarizes Elections . Cambridge University Press: 2007.
- “The News Media and the Racialization of Poverty,” “Media Distortions: Causes and Consequences.” Chapters 5, 6 in Gilens, Martin. Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy . University of Chicago Press (2000).
- Chapters 1, 2, 6 in Hansen, John Mark and Steven J. Rosenstone. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America . Pearson (2002).
- Bedolla, Lisa Garcia, and Melissa R. Michelson. Mobilizing Inclusion: Transforming the Electorate Through Get-Out-the-Vote Campaigns . Yale University Press, 2012.
- Bartels, Larry M. “Candidate Choice and the Dynamics of the Presidential Nominating Process.” American Journal of Political Science 31, no. 1 (February 1987).
- Vavreck, Lynn. The Message Matters: The Economy and Presidential Campaigns . Princeton University Press, 2009.
- Chapters 5, 6 in Achen, Christopher H., and Larry M. Bartels. Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government . Princeton University Press, 2016.
- Pages 1-48 in Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics . Harvard University Press, 1995.
- Chapters 1, 2 in McAdam, Doug, Sidney Tarrow, and Charles Tilly. Dynamics of Contention . Cambridge University Press: 2001.
- McAdam, Doug. Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970 . University of Chicago Press, 2010.
- Gillion, Daniel Q. The Political Power of Protest: Minority Activism and Shifts in Public Policy . Cambridge University Press, 2013.
- Han, Hahrie. Moved to Action: Motivation, Participation, and Inequality in American Politics . Stanford University Press, 2009.
- Rigby, Elizabeth and Gerald C. Wright. “Whose Statehouse Democracy? Policy Responsiveness to Poor vs. Rich Constituents in Poor vs. Rich States.” Chapter 7 in Enns, Peter K., and Christopher Wlezien, eds. Who Gets Represented? Russell Sage Foundation, 2011.
- Chapters 1-5 in Campbell, Andrea Louise. How Policies Make Citizens: Senior Political Activism and the American Welfare State . Princeton University Press, 2003.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) 3-0-9 units
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Fall 2016
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.