Participation and Voting

Pols 4349.02Dr. Brian William Smith

Office Hours When• Monday and Wednesday 10-2• Tuesday and Thursday 11-2• And by appointment

Where• Doyle 206

Phone – 428-1294 Email- brianws@stedwards.edu

Office Hours The University Requires faculty hold 5

hours a week

I hold 14 hours a week

OverviewThis course examines theories of:• public opinion • voter turnout • Partisanship • electoral choices

Specific elections• 2008 Presidential Election• 2010 Congressional Elections.

Institutions

Learning outcomes I Upon completing this class, students will be able

to

• Understand basics of polling and be able to analyze and explain polling and survey data.

• Evaluate how people develop political opinions and how this impacts their political behavior.

• Understand the decision making process for why people vote as they do and how this changes over time.

• Evaluate and interpret the importance of partisanship in shaping political opinion and vote choice

Learning Outcomes II Analyze the theories of why people vote and apply

them to the 2008 and 2010 Election. Identify and describe the formal and informal

institutions involved in the electoral process Assess the upcoming 2012 Presidential Elections

through in-depth analysis of a potential presidential nominee and create a political roadmap for that candidate.

This will be accomplished through readings, class lectures, projects, essay exams and a final paper.

Required Textbook I Political Behavior of

the American Electorate

Flanigan and Zingale

Required Textbook II American Public

Opinion, 8th Edition

Erikson and Tedin

Grading Three Tests- Essay Exams (75%)

Projects (10%)

Final Paper (15%)

Attendance/Extra Credit/Late Assignments

No

No

No

Academic IntegrityAccording to the University Handbook:

St. Edward's University expects academic honesty from all students; consequently, all work submitted for grading in a course must be created as the result of your own thought and effort. Representing work as your own when it is not a result of your own thought and effort is a violation of the St. Edward's Academic Honesty policy. The normal penalty for a student who is dishonest in any work is to receive a mark of F for that course. Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty and may result in the same penalty. In cases of mitigating circumstances, the instructor has the option to assign a lesser penalty. A student who has been assigned the grade of F because of academic dishonesty does not have the option of withdrawing from the course. 

I encourage students to study collaboratively (ie, in groups), however, I expect students to do their own work on the assigned exercises

WHAT IS PUBLIC OPINION? (WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

Public Opinion as a Linkage Elections are frequent, but what happens

in between?

We want decision-makers to meet the expectations of the public

Public opinion provides this link

Public Opinion as Elite Opinion Who are Elites?

Plato

The Founders

Public Opinion as Mass Opinion The role of popular sovereignty

The opinions of all, not just the ruling elite

The Public In Public Opinion General Public

Attentive Public

Issue Publics

Sub-publics or subgroups

The opinion in Public Opinion Attitudes that are verbalized

Must be expressed in words or writing

Can be difficult to measure

Empirical vs. Normative Opinions are Normative

We can measure them empirically!

The Problem of measuring opinions Meaningless responses

General vs. Intense Opinion

All responses count equally

So What is Public Opinion The Collective attitudes of the public to the

issues of the Day

The Preferences of the adult population on matters of relevance to government

THEORIES OF PUBLIC OPINION

How Do We Develop our Opinions?

The Rational-Activist Link We Follow Politics

Form Opinions based on our knowledge

Select Policies and Politicians that come closest to our preferences

Political Parties Model Parties link our opinions to government

We use the parties for cues

Problems?

Interest Group Model Interest Groups Link our Opinions to

Government

“The Flaw in the Pluralist Heaven”

The Delegate Model Elected officials move to meet our needs

Problems?

The Sharing Model Linkage is easy because most opinions are

shared by all (including politicians)

The Role of Descriptive Representation