POLn4102 Political attitudes and public opinion

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lenka Hrbková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Lenka Hrbková, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucie Pospíšilová
Supplier department: Division of Politology – Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
each odd Thursday 8:00–11:40 U53
Prerequisites
! POL504 Attitudes and opinion && !NOW( POL504 Attitudes and opinion )
POL593 Quantitative approaches in political science
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the political attitudes and public opinion research. The introductory parts of the course will focus on the conceptualization and measurement of political attitudes and values. The difference between explicit and implicit attitudes will be introduced to students. Next, the theories of attitude formation and attitude change will be presented, while the special attention will be given to the information processing. The following part concentrates on political culture which can be thought of as a set of political attitudes and values. Special attention will be given to mass belief-systems and political orientations, and their structuration into ideology. Subsequent part of the course focuses on different types of political attitudes such as the legitimacy of the regime, political satisfaction, institutional trust, and political efficacy. At the end of the course, we will introduce various conceptualizations of public opinion and address the issue of the influence of public opinion on policymaking. Students will leave the course with a thorough theoretical understanding of political attitudes, their formation and change, and their possible effects on politics.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the students are able to:
- define basic concepts related to political attitudes and public opinion;
- discuss basic theoretical approaches to the study of political attitudes;
- apply concepts and theories to formulate own research questions and strategies;
- use concepts and theories to discuss current political developments;
Syllabus
  • I. BLOCK
  • 1. Political Attitudes and Values: Concepts and Measurement. Social Cognitions and Schemas.
  • 2. Attitudes and Non-attitudes. The Theory of Survey Response.
  • II. BLOCK
  • 3. Implicit and Explicit Attitudes
  • 4. Information Processing, Misinformation, and Disinformation
  • III. BLOCK
  • 5. Attitude Formation.
  • 6. Attitude Change.
  • IV. BLOCK
  • 7. Political Culture
  • 8. Mass Belief-Systems, Political Orientations, Ideology.
  • V. BLOCK
  • 9. Attitudes towards Political Regime, Political Institutions, and Actors.
  • 10. Heterogeneity of the Public, Political Information, and Partisanship.
  • VI. BLOCK
  • 11. Public Opinion: Conceptualizations.
  • 12. Does Public Opinion Influence Politics? And How?
Literature
  • LUPIA, Arthur. 2015. Uninformed. Why People Seem to Know So Little about Politics and What We Can Do about It. Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • MAIO, Gregory R., HADDOCK, Geoffrey. 2015. The Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change. London: Sage Publishing (2nd edition).
  • CARNO, William D. a PRISLIN, Radmila. 2008. Attitudes and Attitude Change. Psychology Press.
  • Converse, Philip E. 1964. „The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics“ In David Apter (ed.): Ideology and Discontent. New York: Free Press, str. 206–261.
  • Zaller, John, Stanley Feldman. 1992. „A Simple Theory of Survey Response: Answering Questions versus Revealing Preferences“, American Journal of Political Science 36(3): 579–616.
  • Montero, José Ramon, Richard Gunther, Mariano Torcal. 1997. „Democracy in Spain: Legitimacy, Discontent, and Disaffection.“ Studies in Comparative International Development 32(3): 124–160.
  • DEL VICARIO, M. et al. 2016. The Spreading of Misinformation Online. PNAS January, 113 (3) 554-559.
  • KUKLINSKI, James H. 2000. Misinformation and the Currency of Democratic Citizenship. The Journal of Politics 62(3): 790.816.
  • ALTHAUS, Scott L. 2003. Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics. Opinion Surveys and the Will of the People. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
  • DALTON, Russell J. 2014. Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.
  • PERÉZ, Efren O. 2016. Unspoken Politics: Implicit Attitudes and Political Thinking. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
  • VAN d. LINDEN, S. 2015. The conspiracy-effect: Exposure to conspiracy theories (about global warming) decreases pro-social behavior and science acceptance. Journal of Individual Differences 87:171-173.
  • Tourangeau, Roger, Lance J. Rips, Kenneth Rasinski. 2000. The Psychology of Survey Response. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • HUDDY, Leonia, David O. SEARS, and Jack S. Levy. 2013. The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Gilens, Martin, Benjamin I. Page. 2014. „Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens.“ Perspectives on Politics 12(3): 564–581.
  • LODGE, Milton and Charles S. TABER. The rationalizing voter. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013, xv, 281. ISBN 9780521176149. info
  • ZALLER, John. The nature and origins of mass opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xiii, 367. ISBN 9780521407861. info
Teaching methods
lectures, seminars (discussions of students and teachers, presentations of students papers)
Assessment methods
Students have to fulfil following tasks to pass the course: (1.) to submit three position papers; (2.) to participate during the seminars actively discussing the compulsory readings; (3.) to present selected issues during the seminar; (4.) to pass the final test.
Position papers: Students have to submit three position papers that will discuss the literature for respective blocks of lectures and seminars. The paper should be two page long, single-spaced (approx. 1000 words) and has to be submitted to IS until 12 am two days before the lecture/seminar. For each position paper, students can get 10 points at maximum.
Active participation at the seminars: For discussion, students have to read compulsory readings to be able to answer following questions: 2. What is the research question of the paper? 2. Which theories does the author use? 3. To which literature does the paper contribute? 4. What are the hypothesis and expectations? 5. What is the method of analysis? 6. What are the results? Students can get 10 points at maximum.
Presentation at the seminar: 10 minutes presentation on a given topic. Students have to read another literature (cca 5 more papers). The aim is the broaden the knowledge on selected issues. Several students will be allowed to lead the discussion at the seminar instead of presentation. Students can get 10 points at maximum.
Final test: It will consist of several questions concerning the explanation of theories and concepts from the political attitudes and public opinion literature. Students can get 10 points at maximum.
Evaluation: 56–60 points A, 51–55 points B, 46–50 points C, 41–45 points D, 36–40 points E, 35 points and less F.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2019, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2019/POLn4102