MODULE TITLE: POL3043 Political Psychology and Electoral Behaviour
Module Provider (AoU): Politics
Level: 3
Subject (3 letters):
Number of Credits: 10
Module Co-ordinator: Tereza Capelos
MODULE Autumn
AVAILABILITY:
ASSESSMENT PATTERN
Unit(s) of Assessment
Weighting Towards Module
Mark
( %)
Research proposal (1500 words)
50%
Research application (1000 words)
30%
Group Presentation (PowerPoint)
20%
Qualifying Condition(s)
A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module.
PRE-REQUISITE/CO-REQUISITES
None
MODULE OVERVIEW
In this class, we will survey the major areas in the field of political psychology and
electoral behaviour. The readings of the course were selected to provide you with a
foundation in the political-psychological dynamics of electoral behaviour focusing on
the recent theoretical and empirical developments in the field. Some of the topics we
cover in this course are: a history of political psychology; personality processes in
elites and mass publics; socialization; belief systems, attitudes and attitude change;
mass media; values and self interest; political cognition and decision making,
attribution, schemas and stereotypes, information processing; affect and emotion;
ethnocentrism and racism, foundations of electoral behaviour, understanding political
participation, the determinants of vote choice, participation and political activism,
political cynicism and involvement. We will also design and implement a short online
survey during class time. You will use the data from this survey for your research
proposal.
MODULE AIMS
Purpose of this module is to provide you with an overview of psychological
approaches to the study of electoral behaviour. Aim of the class is to introduce you to
alternative conceptual frameworks for understanding most political phenomena, and
demonstrate that political psychology is an exciting and viable area of research that
sheds light into the dark box of electoral behaviour. The readings are very interesting
and stimulate discussion, and you are expected to read all assignments with care
and be prepared to talk about them.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
Knowledge and understanding
Identify the major debates in the field of political psychology and electoral behaviour
Analyse the interrelationship between the discussed theories and paradigms in the
understanding of political phenomena
Apply the relevant concepts and methodological approaches to their own research
proposal
Cognitive skills
Critically evaluate the literature
Construct a short survey measuring political psychology relationships
Practical skills
Work in teams to produce class presentations
Work in teams to discuss how to empirically examine the relationships and
hypotheses discussed in class
Organise workload to meet deadlines
MODULE CONTENT
An overview of the field of political psychology
The relationship between politics and psychology
Political perception
Assessments of leadership
The relationship between cognition and emotion in politics
Uncertainly and political judgment
Processing of political information
Impression driven models of electoral behaviour
Pocket-book models of vote choice
Symbolic politics and the study of racism
The psychology of group conflict
Political Socialization and change
Political participation and activism
Political cynicism and involvement
Political values and tolerance
METHODS OF TEACHING/LEARNING
Informal lectures and discussion elaborating on course-book
SELECTED TEXTS/JOURNALS
Essential Books
Shanto Iyengar and William McGuire (eds) 1993, Explorations in Political
Psychology. Durham, NC, Duke University Press
Dalton and Dieter Klingemann. 2007. The Oxford Handbook of Political Behaviour.
Oxford University Press
Marcus, Neuman, MacKuen, and Crigler, editors. 2007. The Affect Effect: Dynamics
of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior. University of Chicago Press
Complementary reading:
Abramowitz, A. 1988. “Explaining Senate election outcomes”. American Political
Science Review 82: 385-403.
Bartels. 2000. Partisanship and Voting Behavior, 1952-1996 , American Journal of
Political Science, 44, 1, 35-50.
Carmines and Stimson. 1980. The two faces of issue voting. American Political
Science Review. 74, 1, 78-91.
Conover et al. 1982. Single-issue voting: elite-mass linkages. Political Behavior. 4, 4,
309-331.
Conover Pamela Johnston and Stanley Feldman. 1985. “The Role of Inferences in
the Perception of Political Candidates”. In Political Cognition (eds.) R. Lau
and D. Sears. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Conover and Feldman. 1986. Emotional reactions to the economy: I am mad as hell
and I’m not going to take it anymore”. American Journal of Political Science,
30, 1: 50-78
Funk, Carolyn, L. 1999. “Bringing the Candidate into Models of Candidate
Evaluation”. The Journal of Politics 61, 3: 700-20
Hamill, Ruth and Milton Lodge. 1986. “Cognitive Consequences of Political
Sophistication”. In R. R. Lau and D. O. Sears (eds.), Political
Cognition:The 19 th Annual Carnegie Symposium on Cognition (p.69-93)
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hibbing and Theiss-Morse. 1998. The media’s role in public negativity toward
Congress: distinguishing emotional reactions and cognitive evaluations.
American Journal of Political Science. 42, 2, 475-498.
Grandberg and Brown. 1989. On affect and Cognition in Politics. Social Psychology
Quarterly. 52, 3, 171-182.
Jacoby, W. 1988. The Impact of Party Identification on Issue Attitudes. American
Journal of Political Science, 32: 643-661
Kinder, D. 1986. Presidential character revisited. In Richard Lau and David Sears
(eds.) Political Cognition: the 19th annual Carnegie symposium on cognition.
Hillsdale, NJ: LawrenceErlbaum Associates.
Lodge, M., McGraw, K. and Stroh, P. 1989. “An impression driven model of
candidate evaluation”. American Political Science Review 83: 399-419.
Luskin and Bullock. 2004. Re(: )Measuring Political Sophistication. Paper submitted
at Midwest Political Science Association.
Marcus. 1988. “The structure of emotional response: 1984 presidential
candidates”. American Political Science Review 82, 3, 737-761.
Marcus and Mackuen. 1993. Anxiety, Enthusiasm, and the Vote: The emotional
underpinnings of learning and involvement during presidential campaigns.
American Political Science Review. 87, 3, 672-685.
Miller, A., Wattenberg, M., Malanchuk, O. 1986. “Schematic assessments of
presidential candidates”. American Political Science Review 80: 521-540.
Mondak, J. 1995. “Competence, integrity, and the electoral success of congressional
incumbents”. Journal of Politics 57, 4: 1043-1069.
Page, Benjamin, H. and Calvin C. Jones .1979. Reciprocal Effects of Policy
Preferences, Party Loyalties and the Vote. American Political Science Review
73: 1071-89.
Ragsdale. 1991. Strong Feelings: Emotional Responses to Presidents. Political
Behavior. 13, 1, 33-65.
Wrights, G. C. and Berkman, M., B. 1986. “Candidates and Policy in the US Senate
Elections”. American Political Science Review 80: 567-588.
Zaller.1994. Positive Constructs of Public Opinion. In Critical Studies in Mass
Communication.276-287.
Zaller, John, R. 1998. “Monica Lewinsky’s Contribution to Political Science”. PS:
Political Science and Politics 31: 182-189.