Public Opinion and American Democracy

Readings

Required Books

Asher, Herbert. Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know. 6th ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2004. ISBN: 9781568028330.

Berinsky, Adam. Silent Voices. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780691123783.

Fiorina, Morris. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. New York, NY: Longman, 2004. ISBN: 9780321317735.

Stimson, James A. Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780521601177.

Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780521407861.

Assigned Readings

WEEK #	TOPICS	READINGS
The Meaning and Measurement of Public Opinion
1	The Meaning of Public Opinion	Key, V.O. Public Opinion and American Democracy. New York, NY: Random House, 1961, pp. 3-18. ISBN: 9780394303222. Herbst, Susan. Numbered Voices: How Public Opinion Polling Has Shaped American Politics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1993, introduction, chapter 3. ISBN: 9780226327426. Blumer, Herbert. “Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polling.” American Sociological Review 13, no. 5 (1948): 542-549. Newcomb, Theodore M. “Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polling: Discussion.” American Sociological Review 13, no. 5 (1948): 549-552. Woodward, Julian. “Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polling: Discussion.” American Sociological Review 13, no. 5 (1948): 552-554. Converse, Philip E. “Changing Conceptions of Public Opinion in the Political Process.” Public Opinion Quarterly 51 (1987): Supplement 12-24.
2	Measuring Public Opinion: Sampling and Collecting Data	Asher, Herbert. Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know. 6th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004, chapters 4-5. ISBN: 9781568028330.
3	The Survey Interview and the Nature of the Survey Response	Zaller, John, and Stanley Feldman. “A Simple Theory of the Survey Response: Answering Questions versus Revealing Preferences.” American Journal of Political Science 36, no. 3 (1992): 579-616. Tourangeau, Roger, Lance J. Rips, and Kenneth Rasinski. The Psychology of Survey Response. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780521572460. Berinsky, Adam. Silent Voices: Public Opinion and Political Representation in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005, introduction, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780691123783.
Democratic Competence
4	Political Knowledge, Sophistication, and Democratic Competence	Delli Carpini, Michael X., and Scott Keeter. What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997, introduction, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780300072754. Asher, Herbert. Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know. 6th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004, chapter 2. ISBN: 9781568028330. Berinsky, Adam. Silent Voices: Public Opinion and Political Representation in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780691123783. Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992, chapters 2, 3, and 6. ISBN: 9780521407861.
5	Ideology and the Organization of Opinion	Achen, Christopher H. “Mass Political Attitudes and the Survey Response.” American Political Science Review 69 (1975): 1218-1231. Converse, Philip E. “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.” In Ideology and Discontent. Edited by David Apter. New York, NY: Free Press, 1964. ISBN: 9780029007600. Kinder, Donald R. “Diversity and Complexity in American Public Opinion.” In Political Science: The State of the Discipline. Edited by Ada Finifter. Washington, DC: APSA Press, 1983. ISBN: 9780915654581. Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992, chapters 4-5. ISBN: 9780521407861.
Building from the Ground Up: Opinion Ingredients and the Foundations of Public Preferences
6	Self Interest (or Symbolic Politics)	Sears, David O., Richard R. Lau, Tom Tyler, and A. M. Allen Jr. “Self-Interest versus Symbolic Politics in Policy Attitudes and Presidential Voting.” American Political Science Review 74 (1980): 670-684. Green, Donald Philip, and Jonathan A. Cowden. “Who Protests: Self-Interest and White Opposition to Busing.” The Journal of Politics 54 (1992): 471-496. Cambell, Andrea. “Self-Interest, Social Security, and the Distinctive Participation Patterns of Senior Citizens.” American Political Science Review 96 (2002): 565-574.
7	Groups in American Politics: Us and Them	Conover, Pamela J. “The Influence of Group Identifications on Political Perception and Evaluation.” The Journal of Politics 46 (1984): 760-784. Kinder, Donald R., and Lynn M. Sanders. Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996, chapter 5. ISBN: 9780226435749. Sniderman, Paul M., Thomas Piazza, Philip E. Tetlock, and A. Kendrick. “The New Racism.” American Journal of Political Science 35 (1991): 423-447. Berinsky, Adam, and Tali Mendelberg. “The Indirect Effects of Discredited Stereotypes: Social and Political Traits in Judgments of Jewish Leaders.” American Journal of Political Science 49, no. 4 (2005): 845-864.
8	Core Values	Feldman, Stanley, and John Zaller. “The Political Culture of Ambivalence.” American Journal of Political Science 36 (1992): 268-307. Chong, Dennis. “How People Think, Reason, and Feel about Rights and Liberties.” American Journal of Political Science 37 (1993): 867-99. Fiorina, Morris. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. New York, NY: Longman, 2004. ISBN: 9780321317735.
Society and Politics
9	Framing, Priming, and Media Effects	Iyengar, Shanto, Mark Peters, and Donald R. Kinder. “Experimental demonstration of the not-so-minimal consequences of television news programs.” American Political Science Review 76 (1982): 848-858. Gilens, Martin. Why Americans Hate Welfare. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000, chapters 5 and 6. ISBN: 9780226293653. Pollock III, Philip H. “Issues, Values, and Critical Moments: Did ‘Magic’ Johnson Transform Public Opinion on AIDS?” American Journal of Political Science 38, no. 2 (May 1994): 426-446. Druckman, James. “The Implications of Framing Effects for Citizen Competence.” Political Behavior 23 (2001): 225-256.
10	Collective Opinion and Representation	Stimson, James A. Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 1-82. ISBN: 9780521601177. Bartels, Larry M. “Uninformed Votes: Information Effects in Presidential Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 40 (1996): 194-230.
Public Opinion and Policy
11	Public Opinion and Public Policy	Page, Benjamin I., and Robert Y. Shapiro. “Effects of Public Opinion on Policy.” American Political Science Review 77 (1983): 175-190. Stimson James A., Michael B. MacKuen, and Robert S. Erikson. “Dynamic Representation.” American Political Science Review 89 (1995): 543-565. Bartels, Larry M. “Homer Gets a Tax Cut: Inequality and Public Policy in the Public Mind.” Perspectives on Politics 3, no. 0101 (2005): 15-31. Zaller, John. “Coming to Grips with V. O. Key’s Concept of Latent Opinion.” In Electoral Democracy. Edited by Michael MacKuen and George Rabinowitz. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780472068203.
12	Public Opinion and Foreign Policy	Mueller, John. “Trends in Popular Support for the Wars in Korea and Vietnam.” American Political Science Review 65 (1971): 358-75. Feaver, Peter D., Chris Gelpi, and Jason Reifler. “Success Matters: Casualty Sensitivity and the War in Iraq.” International Security 30, no. 3 (Winter 2005-06): 7-46. Berinsky, Adam, and James Druckman. “Public Opinion Research, Presidential Rhetoric, and Support for the Iraq War.” Public Opinion Quarterly (2007). Forthcoming. Berinsky, Adam. “Assuming the Costs of War: Events, Elites, and the American Public.” Journal of Politics (2007). Forthcoming. Kull, Steven, Clay Ramsey, and Evin Lewis. “Misperceptions, the Media, and the Iraq War.” Political Science Quarterly 118, no. 4 (2003): 569-598.
Final Reflections
13	Conclusion - Public Opinion and American Democracy	Verba, Sidney. “The Citizen as Respondent: Sample Surveys and American Democracy.” American Political Science Review 90 (1996): 1-7. Berelson, Bernard. “Democratic Theory and Public Opinion.” Public Opinion Quarterly 16, no. 3 (1950): 313-330. Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992, chapter 12. ISBN: 9780521407861. Berinsky, Adam. Silent Voices: Public Opinion and Political Representation in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005, conclusion. ISBN: 9780691123783.