schedule, spring 2011

Public opinion and democracy: Theoretical and conceptual issues

12 Jan

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 1 & ch. 6

Surveys of public opinion: Methodological issues and the use of surveys as a means of revealing public preferences

19 Jan

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 2

20 questions a journalist should ask about poll results (National Council on Public Polls, nd)

24 Jan

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 4

26 Jan

Public Has Doubts About Whether Polls Really Represent Their Views. 28 June 2001. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. News Release; Toplines/Survey; Chart Pack (read all three).

Public Appetite For Government Misjudged: Washington leaders wary of public opinion. 17 April 1998. Washington: Pew Research Center for The People & The Press.

The correspondence between public opinion and public policy

2 Feb

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 11

7 Feb

L.R. Jacobs and R.Y. Shapiro. 1994. Studying substantive democracy, PS:Political science and politics 27: 9-17.

B.I. Page. 1994. Democratic responsiveness? Untangling the links between public opinion and policy, PS: Political science and politics 27: 25-29.

Civic competence (or, "democracy would be ok if weren't for all those people," or "I love mankind, it's people I can't stand")

9 Feb

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 3 & ch. 5

16 Feb

M.X. Delli Carpini & S. Keeter. 1991. Stability and change in the U.S. public's knowledge of politics, Public opinion quarterly 55: 583-612.

E. Mueller. 1963. Public attitudes toward fiscal programs, Quarterly journal of economics 77: 210-35,

The usual suspects in explaining variations in public opinion

21 Feb

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 7

28 Feb midsemester examination

Defining the public & agenda-setting

2 Mar

R.F. Fenno, Jr. 1977. US House members in their constituencies: An exploration, American political science review 71: 883-917

A. Downs. 1972. Up and down with ecology: The issue-attention cycle, Public interest 28: 38-50 (paper available under Course Documents at Blackboard)

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 8

Elections as mechanisms for the revelation of public preferences

9 Mar

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 9

The policymaking process as a mechanism for the revelaton of public preferences

16 Mar

Erikson & Tedin, ch. 10

Research paper drafts due 4 Apr

4 Apr

Kingdon, chaps. 1-3

6 Apr

Kingdon, chaps. 4-8

11 Apr

Kingdon, chaps. 9-12

Alternative mechanisms for the revelation of public preferences

13 April

B.S. Gamble. 1997. Putting civil rights to a popular vote, American journal of political science 41: 245-269

M. Button & K. Mattson. 1999. Deliberative democracy in practice: Challenges and prospects for civlc deliberation, Polity 31: 609-637.

20 Apr graduate student presentations

25 Apr graduate student presentations

reaearch papers due 27 Apr

29 Apr final examination (5:30-7:30)