Seminar in Political Socialization and Cognition

POS 6247 Section 8704 (Thursdays 8:30 am to 11:35 am, Matherly 6)

Spring 2007
Professor Martinez

Office: Anderson 211 Office Hours*: Tues. 9:30 am - 11:30 am; Tues. and Thurs. 2:30 pm - 4:15 pm.

The goal for the seminar is to review the literature on political socialization, social influence, and political cognition with a view understanding toward how useful these studies are for formulating questions for further research in political science. Each week, the seminar will review and discuss selected readings on various topics; some of those readings will be classics, others are simply examples of contemporary studies in social psychology or political science which use psychological concepts.

Requirements: Attendance and Participation. The weekly meetings of the seminar should be viewed as opportunities for the exchange of ideas among scholars. You may, on occasion, be able to tell that I am the leader of the seminar, but its overall success depends on the informed participation of everyone. Each student is expected to have completed the readings for the week, and to have something to say about those readings when seminar begins. Ideally, the focus of our discussion will lead to the application of the concepts in the readings in building possible research agendas for the seminar participants.

Weekly Papers: Each student will prepare a paper which addresses some theoretical or methodological concern in that week's reading. These papers may be critiques of one or more of the readings, or may offer some theoretical insight which builds on the readings for the week. They should be about 500-700 words, or one physical single-spaced page. These papers are due by noon the day before seminar, and should be delivered to the class listserv by email to spring-8704-l@lists.ufl.edu . (Please send text only, and don't ever send a Microsoft Word attachment.) They will become the basis for our discussions during seminar.

Students also will be required to complete two of the following:

Term Paper: Students who select this option will write a literature review, research proposal, thesis or dissertation (pre)proposal worked out in consultation with Martinez. I expect most of these papers will be about fifteen to twenty double spaced pages. You are required to use the format described in The Style Manual for Political Science.

Leading a Seminar meeting. Students who select this option must inform the instructor by January 25 which week they will lead. Responsibilities for the leader include revision of the reading list for that week (in consultation with the instructor), reviewing others' weekly essays, organizing the discussion of the readings, integrating others' comments into the discussion, and providing a recap/overview of the literature at the end of the seminar, including research questions that emanate (or have emanated from) that week's readings.

Final Exam: The Department encourages final exams as preparations for Ph.D. qualifying exams and M.A. comprehensive exams. The final exam in this seminar will be comparable in format to a Ph.D. qualifying exam in Political Behavior. There will be one take home question, and answers will be limited to five double spaced typewritten pages (normal font and margins). I will send the exam question to you (by email) at noon on Tuesday, May 1, and your response is due back to me by noon, Wednesday, May 2.

Final grades will be assessed by the following evidence:

Weekly papers and seminar preparedness 1/3
Two of the following:
Term Paper 1/3
Leading a Seminar Meeting 1/3
Final Exam 1/3

I have asked the local bookstores to order

Sears, David O., Leonie Huddy, and Robert Jervis. 2003. Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Simon, Herbert A. 1985. Human Nature in Politics: The Dialogue of Psychology with Political Science.. American Political Science Review 79: 293-304.
Sniderman, Paul M. Richard A. Brody, and Philip E. Tetlock. 1991. Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology. New York: Cambridge. Chapter 1 and 2.
Sears, David O., Leonie Huddy, and Robert Jervis. 2003. "The Psychologies Underlying Political Psychology." Pp. 3-16 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Lau, Richard R. 2003. "Models of Decision Making." Pp. 19-59 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Mutz, Diana C. Paul M. Sniderman, and Richard A. Brody. 1996. Political Persuasion: The Birth of a Field of Study. In Political Persuasion and Attitude Change.

January 25: Groups: Conformity and Obedience (Who cares what other people think?)

Asch, S. E. 1955. "Opinions and Social Pressure." Scientific American 193 (5): 31-35.
Newcomb, Theodore M. 1970. Attitude Development as a Function of Reference Groups: The Bennington Study. In Learning About Politics. Ed. Roberta S. Sigel. New York: Random House.
Alwin, Duane F. 1992. Political Attitudes over the Life Span: The Bennington Women after Fifty Years. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Chapters 1-4, 9.
Beck, Paul A. 2002. "Encouraging Political Defection: The Role of Personal Discussion Networks in Partisan Desertions to the Opposition Party and Perot Votes in 1992." Political Behavior 24 (4, Dec): 309-337.
Huddy, Leonie. 2003. "Group Identity and Political Cohesion." Pp. 511-558 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. New York: Oxford University Press.
Monroe, Kristen Renwick, James Hankin and Renée Bukovchik Van Vechten. 2000. The Psychological Foundations of Identity Politics. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 2000. 3:419-447.

February 1: The Family as Group Influence on Political Learning (Mommy, have you seen my efficacy?)

Almond, Gabriel A. and Sidney Verba. 1963. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Chapter _.
Easton, David and Jack Dennis. 1967. The Child's Acquisition of Regime Norms: Political Efficacy. American Political Science Review 61 (1, March): 25-38.
Jennings, M. Kent and Richard G. Niemi. 1968. "The Transmission of Political Values from Parent to Child." American Political Science Review 62: 169-184.
Searing, Donald D., Joel J. Schwartz, and Allen E. Lind. 1973. The Structuring Principle: Political Socialization and Belief Systems. American Political Science Review 67: 415-32.
Dalton, Russell. 1980. 'Reassessing Parental Socialization: Indicator Unreliability Versus Generational Transfer. American Political Science Review 74: 421-31.
Stoker, Laura and M. Kent Jennings. 1995. "Life-Cycle Transitions and Political Participation: the case of marriage." American Political Science Review 89: 421-434.
McDevitt, M. and S. Chaffee. 2002. "From Top-Down to Trickle-up Influence: Revisiting Assumptions About the Family in Political Socialization." Political Communication 19 (3, Jul-Sep): 281-301.

February 8: Adult Groups and Social Interaction in Political Learning (Is politics a contagious disease?)

Jennings, M. Kent and Gregory B. Markus. 1977. The Effects of Military Service on Political Socialization.. American Political Science Review 71: 131-147.
Finifter, Ada W. 1974. "Friendship Group as a Protective Environment for Political Deviants." American Political Science Review 68 (2): 607-625.
Wald, Kenneth D., Dennis E. Owen, and Samuel S. Jr Hill. 1988. "Churches as Political Communities." American Political Science Review 82 (2): 531-548.
Mutz, Diana C. and Jeffrey J. Mondak. 2006. "The Workplace as a Context for Cross-Cutting Political Discourse." Journal of Politics 68 (1, February): 140-155.
Huckfeldt, Robert, Eric Plutzer, and John Sprague. 1993. "Alternative Contexts of Political Behavior - Churches, Neighborhoods, and Individuals." Journal of Politics 55 (2, May): 365-381.

February 15. Does Political Socialization Last? Does it Matter? (Do kids ever really grow up?)

Sears, David O. and Carolyn L. Funk. 1999. "Evidence of the Long-Term Persistence of Adults' Political Predispositions" Journal of Politics 61 (1, February): 1-28.
Jennings, M. Kent. 1987. Residues of a Movement: The Aging of the American Protest Movement. American Political Science Review 81: 367-82.
Sigel, Roberta S. 1989. Adult Political Learning: A Lifelong Process. In Political Learning in Adulthood. Ed. Roberta S. Sigel. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 458-71.
McFarland, Daniel A. and Reuben J. Thomas. 2006. "Bowling Young: How Youth Voluntary Associations Influence Adult Political Participation." American Sociological Review 71 (3, June): 401-425.
Sapiro, Virginia. 2004. "Not Your Parents' Political Socialization: Introduction for a New Generation." Annual Review of Political Science 7: 1-23.

February 22: Cognition and Consistency (Is consistency the hob-goblin of little minds?)

Converse, Philip E. 2000. Assessing the Capacity of Mass Electorates. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 2000. 3:331-353.
Sullivan, John L., James E. Piereson, and George E. Marcus. 1978. "Ideological Constraint in the Mass Public: A Methodological Critique and Some New Findings." American Journal of Political Science 22: 233-249.
Goren, Paul. 2004. "Political Sophistication and Policy Reasoning: A Reconsideration." American Journal of Political Science 48 (3, July): 462-478.
Sniderman, Paul et al. 1991. Values under Pressure: AIDS and Civil Liberties. in Reasoning and Choice, pp. 31-57.
Sniderman, Paul et al. 1991. The Principle-Policy Puzzle: the Paradox of American racial attitudes. in Reasoning and Choice, pp. 58-69.
Feldman, Stanley. 2003. "Values, Ideology, and the Structure of Political Attitudes." Pp. 477-508 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. New York: Oxford University Press.
Jacoby, William G. 2006. "Value Choices and American Public Opinion." American Journal of Political Science 50 (3, July): 706-723.

March 1: Ambivalence (Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't)

Zaller, John. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chapters 1, 4, and 5.
Alvarez, R. Michael and John Brehm. 1995. "American Ambivalence Towards Abortion Policy - Development of a Heteroskedastic Probit Model of Competing Values." American Journal of Political Science 39 (4, November): 1055-1082.
Craig, Stephen C., James G. Kane, and Michael D. Martinez. 2002. "Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut, Sometimes You Don't: Citizens' Ambivalence About Abortion." Political Psychology 23 (2, June): 285-301.
Craig, Stephen C., Michael D. Martinez, and James G. Kane. 2005. "Ambivalence and Response Instability: A Panel Study." Pp. 55-71 in Ambivalence and the Structure of Political Opinion, edited by S. C. Craig and M. D. Martinez. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Huckfeldt, Robert, Jeannette Morehouse Mendez, and Tracy Osborn. 2004. "Disagreement, Ambivalence, and Engagement: The Political Consequences of Heterogeneous Networks." Political Psychology 25 (1, February): 65-95.
Basinger, Scott J. and Howard Lavine. 2005. "Ambivalence, Information, and Electoral Choice." American Political Science Review 99 (2, May): 169-184.

March 8: Attribution and Prejudice (The Devil made me do it, but you did it yourself!)

Duckitt, John. 2003. "Prejudice and Intergroup Hostility." Pp. 559-600 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nail, P. R., H. C. Harton, and B. P. Decker. 2003. "Political Orientation and Modern Versus Aversive Racism: Tests of Dovidio and Gaertner's (1998) Integrated Model." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84 (4, April): 754-770.
Iyengar, Shanto. 1989. How Citizens Think About National Issues: A Matter of Responsibility. American Journal of Political Science 33 (4): 878-900.
McGraw, Kathleen M. 1991. Managing Blame - an Experimental Test of the Effects of Political Accounts. American Political Science Review 85: (4, December) 1133-1157.
Iyengar, Shanto. 1987. Television-news and Citizens Explanations of National Affairs. American Political Science Review 81: (3, September) 815-831.

March 22: Persuasion (My mind is made up!)

Sniderman, Paul et al. 1991. The American Dilemma: The Role of Law as a Persuasive Symbol. in Reasoning and Choice, pp. 206-222.
Sniderman, Paul et al. 1991. Ideology and Issue Persuadability: Dynamics of Racial Policy Attitudes. in Reasoning and Choice, pp. 223-243.
McGraw, Kathleen M. 2003. "Political Impressions: Formation and Management." Pp. 394-432 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Mondak, Jeffrey J., Diana C. Mutz, and Robert Huckfeldt. 1996. Persuasion in Context: The Multilevel Structure of Economic Evaluations. In Political Persuasion and Attitude Change.
Chaffee, Steven H. And Rajiv Nath Rimal. 1996. Time of Vote Decision and Openness to Persuasion. In Political Persuasion and Attitude Change.
Lau, Richard R., Richard A. Smith, and Susan T. Fiske. 1991. Political beliefs, policy interpretations, and political persuasion. Journal of Politics 53 (3, August): 644-75.
Hodson, G. and R. M. Sorrentino. 2003. "Uncertainty Orientation in the Group Context: Categorization Effects on Persuasive Message Processing." Journal of Social Psychology 143 (3, June): 291-312.

March 29: Mass Media and Public Consciousness (Is that an oxymoron?)

Kinder, Donald R. 2003. "Communication and Politics in an Age of Information." Pp. 357-393 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Zaller, John. 1996. The Myth of Massive Media Impact Revived: New Support for a Discredited Idea. In Political Persuasion and Attitude Change.
Iyengar, Shanto. 1990. Shortcuts to Political Knowledge: The Role of Selective Attention and Accessibility. In Information and Democratic Processes. pp. 160-85.
Miller, Joanne M. And Jon A. Krosnick. 1996. News Media Impact on the Ingredients of Presidential Evaluations: A Program of Research on the Priming Hypothesis. In Political Persuasion and Attitude Change. pp. 79-100.
Krosnick, Jon A. and Laura A Brannon. 1993. "The Impact of the Gulf War on the Ingredients of Presidential Evaluations: Multidimensional Effects of Political Involvement." American Political Science Review 87: 963-75.
Mutz, Diana C. and Byron Reeves. 2005. "The New Videomalaise: Effects of Televised Incivility on Political Trust." American Political Science Review 99 (1, February): 1-15.

April 5: Cognitions and Choice (Now, what do you think?)

Jones, Bryan D. 1999. Bounded Rationality. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 2:297-321.
Sniderman, Paul et al. 1991. Reasoning Chains. in Reasoning and Choice, pp.70-92.
Taber, Charles S. 2003. "Information Processing and Public Opinion." Pp. 433-476 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Kuklinski, James H., Robert C. Luskin, and John Bolland. 1991. Where is the Schema? Going Beyond the 'S' Word in Political Psychology.. American Political Science Review 85: 1341-1356.
Lodge, Milton and Ruth Hamill. 1993. A Partisan Schema for Information Processing. Experimental Foundations of Political Science. pp. 97-118.
Quattrone, George A. and Amos Tversky. 1993. Contrasting Rational and Psychological Analyses of Political Science. In Experimental Foundations of Political Science. pp. 159-84.
Gerber, Alan and Donald Green. 1999. Misperceptions about Perceptual Bias. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 2:189-210.

April 12:. Affect and Choice (I like you, so I'll think about it.)

Lodge, Milton and Patrick Stroh. 1993. Inside the Mental Voting Booth: An Impression Driven Process of Candidate Evaluation.. In Explorations in Political Psychology. pp. 225-263.
Herstein, John A. 1993. Keeping the Voter's Limits in Mind: A Cognitive Process Analysis of Decision-Making in Voting.. In Experimental Foundations of Political Science. pp. 129-58.
Ottati, Victor C. and Robert S. Wyer Jr. 1993. Affect and Political Judgment.. In Explorations in Political Psychology. pp. 296-320.
Chubb, John E., Michael G. Hagen, and Paul M. Sniderman. 1991. Ideological Reasoning. in Reasoning and Choice, pp. 140-163.
Chong, Dennis. 1996. Creating Common Frames of Reference on Political Issues. In Political Persuasion and Attitude Change. pp. 195-224.
Wendy M. Rahn, John H. Aldrich, Eugene Borgida. 1994. Individual and Contextual Variations in Political Candidate Appraisal. American Political Science Review 88 (1, March): 193-199.

April 19: Emotions and Choice . (I'm mad as Hell, so let me think about it.)

Marcus, George E. 2003. "The Psychology of Emotion and Politics." Pp. 182-221 in Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, edited by D. O. Sears, L. Huddy, and R. Jervis. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Conover, Pamela Johnston and Stanley Feldman. 1986. Emotional Reactions to the Economy: I'm Mad As Hell and I'm Not Going to Take It Anymore.. American Journal of Political Science 30 (1, February): 50-78.
Marcus, George. 1988. The Structure of Emotional Response. American Political Science Review 82: 737-62.
Marcus, George E. and Michael B. MacKuen. 1993. Anxiety, Enthusiasm, and the Vote: The Emotional Underpinnings of Learning and Involvement during Presidential Campaigns. American Political Science Review 87: 672-85.
Masters, Roger D. and Denis G. Sullivan. 1993. 'Nonverbal Behavior and Leadership: Emotion and Cognition in Political Information Processing. In Explorations in Political Psychology. pp. 150-182.