political behavior|public opinion|voter behaviour|political participation

This course surveys a number of key debates in the very broad literature on electoral and political behaviour in democratic states.  We consider topics...

Political Behaviour: Voters, Public Opinion, and Political Participation (POLS0066)

This course surveys a number of key debates in the very broad literature on electoral and political behaviour in democratic states.  We consider topics including how citizens think about parties, politically salient groups and political issues; how citizens make vote choices; the mechanisms behind differences in turnout and participation across different individuals and over time, levels and variation in political knowledge.  The aim of the course is a comparative examination of political behaviour in democratic contexts, but because of the historical development of the research literature in this area, there is greater weight placed on the US relative to other countries. Additional readings and assessed essay prompts will provide opportunities for students to apply the ideas covered in this module to other political contexts. 

New Aims of the Module:

To explore the following questions: 
How do voters form opinions and make political choices? When do issues drive vote choices? When does the economy drive vote choices?

What is partisan identification and how does it influence vote choice?

To what extent do citizens think about politics in terms of groups versus in terms of issues/policies? Do citizens have meaningful views about most political issues? 

What is the nature of political knowledge among democratic citizens? Do most citizens know enough to make effective democracy possible?

Why do some citizens participate while others do not?
Pre-requisites:
1. POLS0002 Democracy and Authoritarianism or POLS0006 Introduction to Politics
2. Any introductory Quantitative Research Methods module

This module is an invitation to explore the relationship between education and religion in a variety of contexts. Almost everywhere religion has become...