University at Buffalo 3 credits Political Science
The course teaches students about the fundamental aspects of American public opinion?what public opinion means; how it is measured; problems in ?getting at? what individuals and the public as a whole think about political matters; the many problems in surveys from low response rates to biases produced by question wording, response wording and even question order; the stability and volatility of public opinion on different subjects; the public?s general orientations toward politics as well as their views on political issues, groups, institutions, and people; the extent and change in the polarization of the public; what influences public opinion (e.g., political leaders and parties, the media, events and circumstances); whether public opinion is grounded in adequate information; the impact of a prevailing dominant outlook on the opinions and behaviors of political minorities; and the effects of American public opinion on the functioning of democratic government. The course focuses particularly on the polarization of American public opinion and the reasons why Americans are so divided. Students will learn about public opinion, about evaluating and applying evidence to answer social scientific questions, and about relating those empirical answers to democratic theory.
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