Political Science 487:
Political Psychology
Fall
2001: TR 2:30-4:00
Professor Cara Wong
Office: Room 211 Office
Hours: 4 to 6 pm, Tues
Department
of Political Science Or
by appointment
611
Church Street Email:
cjwong@umich.edu
Phone: 615-9104
This course is designed as an introduction to the theories and concepts in the field of political psychology. It focuses primarily on psychological explanations of individual political attitudes and actions, among both elites as well as the masses. We will explore the sources of public opinion and political behavior through the application of psychological theories about personality, learning, cognition, social influence, and group dynamics. The course begins with psychological theories and concepts, illustrating them with political applications. The second part of the course focuses on topics traditionally taken up by political scientists – including socialization, propaganda, and political participation -- bringing psychological perspectives to bear.
Course
Requirements & Grading:
To complete this course, students must turn in three
written assignments. Each paper will be
short (5-7 pages, typed and double-spaced), and the first is due in class on October 2. The second paper
is due in class on November 8, and
the third paper is due in class on
November 29. The paper topics will be
handed out in class a couple weeks before the due date. Plan ahead because late papers will be
penalized.
Students must also take a midterm exam (October 16) and a
final exam. The exams will cover
material from the reader as well as from lectures. While the lectures will draw on some of the articles and chapters
assigned, they may also present ideas or arguments not found in the
readings. Students are responsible for
all of the course materials (readings, lectures, and other class
presentations). Please let me know
ahead of time if you will need additional time or different accommodations for
the exams and papers.
The course grade will be based on the following
breakdown:
Paper 1 10%
Midterm 25%
Paper 2 10%
Paper 3 10%
Final 45%
Course
Materials:
There is only one book assigned in its entirety for this
course, and it is available for purchase at Ulrich’s, Michigan Book and Supply,
or the Michigan Union Bookstore: Obedience to Authority by Stanley
Milgram. The remaining readings will be
available in a reader at Excel (on S. University).
Sept 6 Introduction
Sept 11-13: Human
Nature and Motivation
Lane, Robert. 1959. Political Life. Chapter 7 (“Why is the
Study of Human Nature Important for the Study of Electoral Behavior?”) and
Chapter 8 (“What Conscious Needs are Served by Participation in Political
Life?”). NY: The Free Press.
Simon, Herbert. 1985. “Human Nature in Politics: The Dialogue of Psychology with Political Science.” American Political Science Review 79: 293-304.
Tversky, Amos and Daniel
Kahneman. 1974. “Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases.” Science 185: 1124-31.
Citrin, Jack and Donal Philip Green. 1990. “The Self-Interest Motive in American Public Opinion.” Research in Micropolitics 3:1-28.
Freud, Sigmund. 1993.
"Civilization and Its Discontents." In Political Psychology: Classic and Contemporary Readings, ed. Neil
J. Kressel. New York: Paragon House, pp. 64-67.
Monroe, Kristen. 1996. The Heart of Altruism. Chapter 1
(“The Puzzle of Altruism”) and Chapter 9 (“Psychological Discussions of
Altruism”). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Sept 18-20 Personality & Leadership
Readings:
Greenstein, Fred
I. 1987. Personality and Politics. Chapter 2 ("Objections to the Study of
Personality and Politics").
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Barber, James D. 1971. “The
Interplay of Presidential Character and Style: A Paradigm and Five
Illustrations.” In A Source Book for the Study of Personality and Politics, eds. Fred
I. Greenstein and Michael Lerner.
Chicago: Markham.
Greenstein, Fred.
1994. “Two Leadership Styles of William Jefferson Clinton.” Political Psychology 15: 351-61.
Sanford,
Nevitt. 1971. "The Approach of the Authoritarian Personality." In A
Source Book for the Study of Personality and Politics, eds. Fred I.
Greenstein and Michael Lerner. Chicago:
Markham.
Bray, Robert M. and
Audrey M. Noble. 1978. "Authoritarianism and Decisions of Mock
Juries: Evidence of Jury Bias and Group Polarization." Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology 36: 1424-1430.
McClosky and Chong. 1985.
“Similarities and Differences Between Left-Wing and Right-Wing Radicals.” British Journal of Political Science 15:
329-63.
Sept 25-27 Learning & Political Understanding
Readings:
Lippman, Walter. 1922/1997. Public Opinion. Chapter 1 (“The World
Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads”). New York: Free Press.
Asch, Solomon E.
1955. “Opinions and Social Pressure.” Scientific
American 193: 5.
Crandall,
Christian. 1988. “Social Contagion of Binge Eating.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55: 4.
Bandura, Albert.
1977. Social Learning Theory. Chapter 1 (“Theoretical Perspective”) and
Chapter 2 (“Origins of Behavior”). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
McClosky,
Herbert and John Zaller. 1985. The
American Ethos. Chapter 8 ("Social Learning and the Acquisition of
Political Norms," with Dennis Chong). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hershey, Marjorie
Randon and Darrell West. 1984. Running
for Office. Chapter 7
("Pro-Life Groups Act in 1980: The Importance of Observational
Learning"). Chatham, NJ: Chatham
House.
Oct 2-4 Cognition
and Schemas (Paper 1 due)
Readings:
Abelson,
Robert. 1959. "Modes of Resolution to Belief Dilemmas." Journal
of Conflict Resolution. 3: 343-52.
Ross, Lee. 1977.
"The Intuitive Psychologist and his Shortcomings: Distortions in
the Attribution Process." In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology,
ed. Leonard Berkowitz. Vol. 10.
Quattrone, George
A. and Amos Tversky. 1988. “Contrasting Rational and Psychological Analyses of
Political Choice.” American Political
Science Review. 82: 719-36.
Taylor, Shelley E.
and Jennifer Crocker. 1981. "Schematic Bases of Social Information
Processing." In Social Cognition: The Ontario Symposium,
eds. E. Higgins, et. al. Hillsdale:
Erlbaum.
Lodge, Milton and
Ruth Hamil. 1986. "A Partisan Schema for Political
Information Processing." American Political Science Review
80:515-519.
Oct 9-11 Attitudes and Behavior
Readings:
Fishbein, Martin
and Icek Ajzen. 1974. Belief,
Attitude, Intention, and Behavior.
Chapter 1 ("Introduction").
Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.
Sears, David
O. 1993. "Symbolic Politics: A Social Psychological
Theory." In Explorations in Political Psychology, eds. Shanto Iyengar and
William J. McGuire. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press.
Ottati, Victor C.
and Robert S. Wyer, Jr. 1993. "Affect and Political
Judgment." In Explorations in Political Psychology, eds. Shanto Iyengar and
William J. McGuire. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press.
Sullivan, Denis G. and Roger D.
Masters. 1988. “‘Happy Warriors’: Leaders’ Facial Displays, Viewers’ Emotions,
and Political Support.” American Journal
of Political Science 32: 345 - 368.
Chong, Dennis. 1993. "How
People Think, Reason, and Feel about Rights and Liberties. American Journal of Political Science 37:867-99.
Lapiere, Richard
T. 1967. "Attitudes versus Actions." In Readings in Attitude
Theory and Measurement, eds. Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Oct 16 Midterm.
Oct 18 Social
Influences and Intergroup Relations
Readings:
Milgram, Stanley. 1974.
Obedience to Authority. New York: Harper & Row.
Kelman, Herbert C.
and Lee Hamilton. 1989. Crimes of
Obedience. Chapter 1 (“The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of
Obedience”). New Haven: Yale University Press.
Oct 23-25 Groups and Stereotypes
Readings:
Brown, Roger. 1986. Social Psychology, The Second Edition..
Part VI Introduction (“Ethnic Conflict”) and Chapter 15 (“Ethnocentrism and
Hostility”). New York: The Free Press.
Brown, Rupert. 2000.
Group Process. Chapter 6 ("Intergroup Conflict and
Cooperation "). Oxford: Basil
Blackwell.
Hamilton, David
L. 1979. "A Cognitive Attributional Analysis of
Stereotyping." In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology,
ed. Leonard Berkowitz. Vol. 12.
Sniderman,
Paul. 1993. The Scar of Race. Chapter 2 ("Pictures in the
Mind"). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Oct 30- Nov 1 Decisionmaking.
Readings:
Tetlock, Philip. 1993.
"Psychological Advice on Foreign Policy." In Political Psychology: Classic and Contemporary Readings, ed. Neil
J. Kressel. New York: Paragon House, pp. 320-41.
Hoffmann, Stanley. 1993.
"On the Political Psychology of Peace and War." In Political Psychology: Classic and
Contemporary Readings, ed. Neil J. Kressel. New York: Paragon House, pp.
342-59.
Jervis,
Robert. 1993. "The Drunkard’s Search." In Explorations in
Political Psychology, eds. Shanto Iyengar and William J. McGuire. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Stein, Janice
Gross. 1988. "Building Politics into Psychology: The Misperception of
Threat." Political Psychology 9: 245-71.
Janis, Irving. 1972.
Victims of Groupthink. Chapter 1 ("Introduction: Why So Many
Miscalculations?"), Chapter 2 ("A Perfect Failure: The Bay of
Pigs"), and Chapter 8 ("Generalizations: Who Succumbs, When, and
Why"). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Hensley, Thomas R.
and Glen W. Griffin. 1986. "Victims of Groupthink: The Kent State
University Board of Trustees and the 1977 Gymnasium Controversy." Journal
of Conflict Resolution 30: 497-531.
Nov 6-8 Political
Socialization. (Paper 2 due)
Readings:
Dolan, Kathleen. 1995.
"Attitudes, Behaviors, and the Influence of the Family: A Reexamination of
the Role of Family Structure." Political Behavior 17: 251-64.
Basow, Susan
A. 1986. Gender Stereotypes:
Traditions and Alternatives.
Chapter 7 ("Socialization: Theories and Agents"). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing
Company; 2nd edition.
Newcomb, Theodore
M. 1958. “Attitude Development as a Function of Reference Groups: The Bennington Study.” In Readings in Social Psychology, eds.
Eleanor E. Maccoby, Theodore M. Newcomb, and Eugene L. Hartley. NY: Holt, pp.
265-75.
Morris, Aldon D.,
Shirley J. Hatchett, and Ronald E. Brown. 1989. “The Civil Rights Movement and
Black Political Socialization.” In Political
Learning in Adulthood, ed. Roberta S. Sigel. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Freedman, Anne E.
and P. E. Freedman. 1975. The
Psychology of Political Control.
Chapter 4 ("The Socialization of the 'Good Citizen'."). New York: St. Martin's Press.
Jennings, M. Kent. 1987.
“Residues of a Movement: The Aging of the American Protest Generation.” American Political Science Review 81:
367-82.
Nov 13-15 Political Communication through the Media
Readings:
Sears, David O. and
Rick Kosterman. 1987. "Mass Media and Political
Persuasion." Mimeograph. (Prepared for Psychology of Persuasion, eds. T. C. Brock and S. Shavitt.)
Zaller, John
R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of
Mass Opinion. Chapter 2
("Information, Predispositions, and Opinion.") New York: Cambridge University Press.
Iyengar, Shanto and
Donald R. Kinder. 1987. News
That Matters. Pages 63 - 65
(defining "priming") and Chapter 11 ("Electoral Consequences of
Priming"). Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Brody, Richard A
and Catherine R. Shapiro. 1989. "A Reconsideration of the Rally
Phenomenon in Public Opinion." In Political Behavior Annual, volume 2, ed.
Samuel Long.
Gilens, Martin. 1999. Why
Americans Hate Welfare. Chapter 5 (“The News Media and the Racialization of
Poverty”). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Nov 20 Prejudice
and Political Tolerance
Readings:
Mueller, John. 1988.
"Trends in Political Tolerance." Public Opinion Quarterly,
52:1-25.
Kuklinski, James
H., et al. 1993. “Thinking About Political Tolerance, More or Less, with More
or Less Information” in Reconsidering the
Democratic Public, eds. George E Marcus and Russell L. Hanson. University
Park: Pennsylvania State University Press
Ward, Dana. 1985. “Generations
and the Expression of Symbolic Racism.” Political
Psychology 6: 1-18.
Devine, Patricia G. 1989.
“Stereotypes and Prejudice: Their Automatic and Controlled Components.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
56:5-18.
Bobo, Lawrence and James R.
Kluegel. 1993. “Opposition to Race-Targeting: Self-Interest, Stratification
Ideology, or Racial Attitudes?” American
Sociological Review 58: 443-64.
Nov 27-29 Collective Action and Protest (Paper 3 due)
Readings:
Brown, Roger. 1965.
Social Psychology. Chapter 14 ("Collective Behavior and
the Psychology of the Crowd"). New
York: The Free Press.
Piven, Frances Fox
and Richard A. Cloward. 1979. Poor
People's Movements. Chapter 1
("The Structuring of Protest") and Chapter 2 (“The Unemployed
Workers’ Movement”). New York:: Vintage
Books.
Chong, Dennis. 1991. Collective Action and the Civil Rights
Movement. Chapter 1 (“Public-Spirited Collective Action”), Chapter 2
(“All-Or-Nothing Public Goods”), and Chapter 3(“Selective Social Incentives and
Reputational Concerns”). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Green, Donald
Philip Green and Jonathan Cowden. 1992. “Who Protests: Self-Interest and White
Opposition to Busing.” Journal of
Politics 54: 471-96.
Dec 4-6 Social
Capital
Readings:
Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of
American Community. Chapter 1 (“Thinking About Social Change in America”),
Chapter 2 (“Political Participation”), Chapter 3 (“Civic Participation”), and
Chapter 15 (“What Killed Civic Engagement? Summing Up”). NY: Simon and
Schuster.
Verba, Sidney, Kay L.
Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady. 1995. Voice
and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Chapter 4
(“Interpreting Political Activity: A Report from Activists”) and Chapter 5
(“Recruiting Political Activists”). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Fiorina, Morris P. 1999.
“Extreme Voices: A Dark Side of Civic Engagement.” In Civic Engagement in American Democracy, eds. Theda Skocpol and Morris P. Fiorina. Washington, D.C.: Brookings
Institution, pp, 395-246.
Dec 11 Conclusion