Government 252
The Psychology of Politics
Ron Seyb
Ladd 310
Ext. 5248
Office Hours:
M&W, 1:30-3:30 PM
Fall 2014
Course Description
This course addresses three questions: (1) Why do some Americans
choose to pursue careers in politics? (2) How do political elites make choices?
(3) What effect do these choices have on public policy and civic engagement?
Political psychologists seek answers to these questions by exploring the motives,
beliefs, personality characteristics of and social influences on political leaders.
The course will demonstrate that the reasons political actors give for their
behavior are rarely accurate. Much political behavior is driven by unconscious
motives, irrational beliefs, personality traits, and information-processing biases
that can lead political actors to endorse policies that are contrary to their interests
and choose courses of action that are counterproductive, immoral, or destructive.
The first half of the course will address why political actors make such
"foolish" choices by exploring how they acquire their personality traits and belief
systems, process information, and respond to the demands of their social and
political environments. The course's second half will explore both the techniques
for and the consequences of political leaders' attempts to "market" these choices
to an at times skeptical, at times indifferent, public.
Course Goals
The course is designed to enable students to:
1. Appreciate the distinctive contribution that political psychology makes
to the study of political behavior
2. Understand the ways that cognitive biases, social influence, and
personality traits can prevent even the most capable of leaders from acting
“rationally”
3. Analyze how political leaders employ various communication
techniques to lead their audiences to draw erroneous conclusions or treat
as indisputable facts what are really contestable propositions
4. Acquire a better understanding of why political leaders sometimes
seem to lose their moral compass when making decisions that have a
conspicuous moral dimension
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Course Requirements
(1) There will be three in-class examinations: a short answer
examination on Friday, September 26 (15%), a midterm examination on Friday,
October 17 (25%) and a final examination to be administered on Thursday,
December 16 at 6:00 PM (25%).
(2) You will be required to write a 12-15 page psychobiography of a
president of your choice that uses Justin Frank’s Obama on the Couch as a model.
Your psychobiography will be due on Monday, December 3 and will determine
35% of your final grade.
Attendance
You are allowed to miss four (4) classes. There are no excused absences.
I do not grant excused absences for two reasons: (1) I have found that my ability
to discriminate between a valid and an invalid reason for missing class rivals my
ability to discriminate between a Princess Cruise and a Carnival Cruise (spoiler
alert: both will make you sick) and (2) Four absences allow you to miss over a
week of class without incurring any penalty. There is not a more generous
attendance policy, except perhaps that administered by Magic Mountain’s
Human Resources Division. I will treat tardies as absences. I do often say
significant things at the outset of class about readings, assignments, snakebite
treatments, etc. It is hence important that you be present every MWF at 11:15
AM.
I will deduct 2% from your final grade for each absence you accrue over
the 4 absence limit (e.g., a student who earns a cumulative score of “90” (A-)
on the course assignments who compiles 5 absences will receive an “88” (B+)
for the course).
If you reach four absences, I will send you an email alerting you that
your next absence will cause me to deduct 2%from your course grade.
You should also keep in mind that according to the Academic Information
Guide "any students who miss more than a third of the [class] sessions may
expect to be barred from [the final examination]. In such cases, the course
grade will be recorded as F."
Laptops and Tablets
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Laptops and tablets are not allowed in class. I do understand that this
policy makes me more obsolete than a Danny DeVito star vehicle. I also,
however, understand the natural inclination (one that, by the way, I share) to
scan out-takes from Seth Rogen’s recent trip to El Pollo Loco during slack
moments in the presentation. While I recognize that some of you may be
unaccustomed to taking notes by hand, please trust me when I say that this is an
important skill to learn, and not merely because you may not always have a
laptop or a tablet in your holster. There is an emerging consensus among
scholars that taking notes by hand enhances recall and understanding of class
material (see, for example, Robinson Meyer, “To Remember a Lecture Better,
Take Notes by Hand, The Atlantic, May 1, 2014). Students who have a disability
that precludes them from taking notes by hand must provide me with
documentation testifying to their needs by the end of the second week of
classes (i.e., Friday, September 12).
Cell and Smart Phones
I will not ask you to leave your phone behind with the rest of the
unregenerate. I know that the separation anxiety that arrives soon after you lose
track of your phone is more acute than that which occurs when a dingo eats a
mother’s baby. I will, however, ask that you turn off these devices during class.
If I do see you texting in class, then I will write you an email following class
urging you to desist for all of the reasons of which you are undoubtedly aware.
If you repeat this offense, then I will ask you not to bring your phone to class. A
third transgression will compel me, reluctantly, to deduct 5 points from your
course grade. I will not entertain any challenges to my judgment that you are
texting in class. Your most prudent course is thus to do nothing in class that
could even cause me to think that you might be texting (i.e., do not try to execute
the standard one hand under the desk, head cocked at a side angle, eyes
downcast posture that is approved by no yoga instructor with whom I am
acquainted)
Books
The following books can be purchased at The Skidmore Shop for less than
it cost for President Obama to subject Joe Biden to a full array of psychological
tests:
Justin Frank, Obama on the Couch
Travis Ridout and Michael Franz, The Persuasive Power of Campaign Advertising
Lauren Slater, Opening Skinner's Box
Drew Westen, The Political Brain
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Important Note about The Hodges Harbrace Handbook
All Government majors are now required to own a copy of The Hodges
Harbrace Handbook. While it would be ideal if you owned the most recent edition
of this style guide (the 18th edition), you certainly can manage with an earlier
edition in the same way that Anne Hathaway manages to be annoying even
when she is not in Yves-Saint Laurent.
Weekly Topics and Reading Assignments
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes a reading available on Blackboard
Week 1: (September 3-5): Political Leadership in America
Readings: *Garry Wills, Introduction to Certain Trumpets, pp. 11-34
Week 2 (September 8-12): Deliberative Choice v. Automatic Processing: The
Habits of Highly Effective and Ineffective Leaders
Readings: *Charles Duhigg, “The Power of a Crisis: How Leaders Create Habits
Through Accidents and Design,” Chapter 6 in Charles Duhigg, The
Power of Habit
*Charles Duhigg, “Keystone Habits or the Ballad of Paul O’Neill,”
Chapter 4 in Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit
Week 3 (September 15-19): Political Beliefs: The Morality of Consent
Readings: *Jonathan Haidt, “The Divided Self,” Chapter 1 in Jonathan Haidt,
The Happiness Hypothesis
*Jonathan Haidt, “Can’t We All Disagree More Constructively?”
Chapter 12 in Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People
Are Divided By Politics and Religion
*Complete Moral Foundations Questionnaire at YourMorals.org.
SELECTION OF PRESIDENT FOR PSYCHOBIOGRAPHY DUE
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 AT 5:00 PM
Week 4 (September 22-26): Is it Just Emotion That’s Taking Me Over? I: Brain
Chemistry, Brain Destiny?
Readings: *David Eagleman, “The Brain on Trial,” The Atlantic (July/August
2011)
*Paul Bloom, “The War on Reason,” The Atlantic (March 2014)
*Richard A. Friedman, “Why Teenagers Act Crazy” The New York
Times, June 28, 2014
SHORT ANSWER EXAMINATION
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
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Week 5 (September 29-October 3): Is It Just Emotion That’s Taking Me Over?
II: Why William Goldman Was Right When He Said, “Nobody Knows
Anything”
Readings: Westen, Chapters 1-5
*Kathyrn Schulz, “Denial and Acceptance,” Chapter 11 in Kathyrn
Schulz, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error
Week 6 (October 6-10): Personality and Political Choice
Readings: Frank, Introduction and Chapters 1-6
Week 7 (October 13-17): Does Personality Matter?
Readings: Slater, Chapters 2 and 3, and 5
MIDTERM EXAMINATION
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17
Week 8 (October 20-22): Bad Decisions by Good People
Readings: Slater, Chapter 4
*Irving Janis, “A Perfect Failure” from Groupthink
STUDY DAY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24
Week 9 (October 27-31): The New Language of Leadership
Readings: *Matt Bai "The Framing Wars," The New York Times Magazine (July 17,
2005)
*Molly Ball, “The Agony of Frank Luntz,” The Atlantic (January 6,
2014)
Westen, Chapter 11
Week 10 (November 3-7): Political Advertising I: The Problem of Persuasion
Readings: Ridout and Franz, Chapters 1, 2, and 4
Week 11 (November 10-14): Political Advertising II: What Matters
Readings: Ridout and Franz, Chapters 5-8
Week 12 (November 17-21): The Media and Motivated Reasoning
Readings: *Thomas E. Patterson, “The Source Problem,” Chapter 2 in Thomas
Patterson, Informing the News
Michael A. Cacciatore, et al., “Misperceptions in Polarized Politics:
The Role of Knowledge, Religiosity and Media,” PS, 47(3) (July 2014)
Week 13 (November 24): Catch-Up
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Readings: No Reading
THANKSGIVING BREAK
Week 14 (December 1-5): The Media and the Tragedy of American Politics
Readings: Markus Prior, “Media and Political Polarization,” Annual Review of
Political Science 16 (2013)
PSYCHOBIOGRAPHY DUE (Must Be Submitted by 5:00 PM)
DECEMBER 1
Week 15 (December 8-10): Review for Final Examination
Reading: No Reading
FINAL EXAMINATION
THURSDAY DECEMBER 16, 6:00-9:00 PM, Ladd 207
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