Political Parties and Elections (324-0-20)
Instructors
Matthew R Pryor
Meeting Info
University Hall 102: Mon, Wed 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
Elections have regularly occurred since the inception of this country. Highly visible elections occur every 2 to 4 years, and less visible elections occur more frequently. How do political campaigns and elections produce representation? And how do citizens assess how well they are represented? This class addresses these questions by focusing on three domains. First, we will examine how the process and structures of representation and American Elections. Then, we will investigate the contributions of key political actors to campaigns: parties, interest groups, and the media, and they interact through elections. Finally, we will examine voter perceptions of parties and campaigns, and how voters are targeted (or not) by political actors. The class will focus on critical political science articles (and can follow along with the text) to investigate these topics. Time will also be spent observing and interacting with the current presidential primary campaigns as well.
Teaching Method
Seminar
Evaluation Method
Discussion, Presentations, Current Events and Research papers
Class Materials (Suggested)
Campaigns and Elections (2018, Third Edition) by John Sides, Daron Shaw, Matt Grossman, and Keena Lipsitz. ISBN-10: 0393640531, ISBN-13: 978-0393640533
Class Attributes
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area