3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

This course confronts the expectations of democratic theory regarding the way citizens should think and behave with findings from political psychology with respect to how they do think and behave. Divergences of the ideals and realities of democratic citizenship often seem quite glaring and discomforting. What are the conclusions we should draw from such mismatches? Should we simply accept them or is there something to be done about them? Alternatively, should democracy be redefined or abdicated altogether? The course will center on the experience of the advanced industrial democracies – the places where one would presume democracy to work best. In addition to addressing substantive questions, the course also aims to equip students with approaches, methods, and techniques they can use in conducting their own empirical research.