New Proposal. Name Title School/College Department Name SPENCER PISTON Assistant Professor CAS

Transcription

1 In Workflow 1. CASPO Chair 2. CAS Dean 3. Science and Social Inquiry SubCommittee Chair 4. University Gen Ed Committee Chair 5. Final Approval Approval Path 1. Fri, 07 Jul :26:09 GMT DAVID GLICK (dmglick): Approved for CASPO Chair 2. Fri, 18 Aug :15:56 GMT Peter Law (pgl): Rollback to CASPO Chair for CAS Dean 3. Mon, 28 Aug :36:49 GMT DAVID GLICK (dmglick): Approved for CASPO Chair Date Submitted: Fri, 16 Jun :09:16 GMT New Proposal Viewing: Public Opinion in American Politics Last edit: Mon, 28 Aug :36:39 GMT Changes proposed by: spiston Section One Provenance of Proposal Proposer Information Name Title School/College Department Name SPENCER PISTON Assistant Professor CAS PO Section Two Course or Co-Curricular Activity Identifiers What are you proposing? Course College College of Arts & Sciences

2 Department POLITICAL SCIENCE Subject Code CAS PO - Political Science Course Number 307 Course/Co-curricular Title Public Opinion in American Politics Short Title Public Opinion This is: A New Course Did you participate in a CTL workshop for the development of this activity? Bulletin (40-word) Course Description Public opinion is a central component of democratic politics; in this course we study public opinion in the United States. In addition to this substantive focus, the course is intended to foster the development of two skills: critical reading and rigorous, careful and clear writing. Prerequisites, if any: CAS PO 111 or CAS PO 141, or instructor permission Co-requisites, if any: Courses, if any, for which this course will be a prerequisite: Courses, if any, for which this course will be a co-requisite: Cross-Listing Course Type (for Scheduling Purposes): Independent (seminar or other course with no ancillary components) Delivery Type Face-to-Face

3 Credits 4 Please justify this number of credits, with reference to BU s Policy on Credit Assignment and to the combination of required contact hours and student effort detailed in your proposed course syllabus. Students will spend at least 12 hours per week in class, conducting reading for class, and completing assignments. Is this course repeatable for additional credit? Section Three Scheduling and Enrollment Information 5 Proposed first (or for existing course) next semester to be offered Spring 2018 Proposed Last semester to be offered: Offer Indefinitely Full semester course/activity? Yes Course/Activity Location Charles River Campus Course/Activity offering pattern Every Spring What is your projected minimum capacity across all semesters and sections in an academic year? What is your projected maximum capacity across all semesters and sections in an academic year? 15 Please explain the basis for anticipating this enrollment total A similar course was capped at 18 students and filled. Provide full detail if enrollment is expected to vary, for example, between Fall and Spring semesters

4 Does this course have capacity for more students to enroll? What factors are limiting? This is a seminar course; a small class size is necessary to preserve the quality of discussion. Do you propose to reserve seats for specific student populations? Section Four - General Education Are you proposing (only for freshmen entering BU before September 2018 and transfer students entering before September 2020) that this course/activity fulfill current general education requirements? Are you proposing this course/activity for inclusion in the BU Hub program of general education for all freshman who enter BU in or after September 2018? Yes 1. Philosophical, Aesthetic, and Historical Interpretation 2. Scientific and Social Inquiry Social Inquiry I Social I Outcome 1 The key concept that will be examined in this course is that of "public opinion." What do we mean when we say that the American public supports a given policy or a given candidate? Is public opinion reducible to the aggregation of individual responses on a survey? We will interrogate common claims about public opinion, and students will gain the tools to stake out their own position on what this concept should mean - and how it should be measured - on the final exam at the end of the course. 3. Quantitative Reasoning 4. Diversity, Civic Engagement, and Global Citizenship 5. Communication

5 Intellectual Toolkit How will you evaluate whether learning outcomes for the relevant area(s) have been met? Class discussion - each student will be evaluated on her ability to articulate, and respond to, essential points made by the readings, and by other students as well. Papers - students will develop claims about how the concept of public opinion helps us understand how people behave. Final exam - students will integrate and synthesize a wide range of perspectives on the meaning and measurement of public opinion, and will stake out their own position as well. Educational Strategies What educational strategies do you plan to use to encourage students full engagement in the course/activity both inside and outside of class? I will explicitly tell students the purpose of each assignment and how it connects to the course objectives including the final exam, which is designed to be a learning opportunity as much as an assessment exercise. I will also contact students directly regarding their in-class participation in discussion, in order to work with them (gently) to improve it. Section Five - Relationship of Proposed Course to Existing Courses/Activities in Your Program or Others Do you have Learning Objectives for this Course in addition to BU Hub Outcomes? For what major(s) and/or minor(s) and/or concentration(s) will this course/activity fulfill program requirements? School/College Degree Name HEGIS Short Translation Level CAS BA Political Science Major Is this course/activity required for any major or minor program? Majors and minors and general education aside, are there other student populations in relevant departments for whom this course/activity will serve as a valuable related elective?

6 Overlap. Is there any significant overlap with courses/activities currently offered by your program or by others? Sequencing. Aside from having or serving as a pre-requisite, does this course/activity build on and/or lay groundwork for others? Yes Please explain. It builds on the following course: Introduction to American Politics. How the public thinks about politics is an aspect of American politics. Additional comments about the intended value and impact of this course/activity: Section Six Resource Needs and Sustainability Facilities and equipment. Are any special facilities, equipment, and other resources needed to teach this course/activity? Staffing. Will the staffing of this course, in terms of faculty and where relevant teaching fellows/assistants, etc., affect staffing support for other courses? For example, will other courses not be taught or be taught less frequently? Budget and Cost. Will start-up and continuation of the course/activity entail costs not already discussed? Sustainability. Which members of your faculty are prepared to teach this course/activity regularly or on a rotational basis? Please explain. Spencer Piston Additional tes on any Aspect of Course/Activity

7 Submit this form and course/activity syllabus. Key: 241 Upload Syllabus PLS Public Opinion Syllabus BU HUB docx Reviewer Comments Peter Law (pgl) (Fri, 18 Aug :15:56 GMT): Rollback: Hi David-- As promised. Rolling back to you for a course number, revised syllabus, 40 words or fewer description, and anything else you want to fix up. When done, simply re-submit to us at CAS Dean. Thanks. PLaw.

8 CAS PO 307 Public Opinion in American Politics Spring 2017 Tues/Thurs: 2:00-3:15 PM Location: CAS 204A Class Instructor Spencer Piston Assistant Professor of Political Science 300 PLS, 232 Bay State Road Office Hours: 1-2 PM Tues/Thurs Course Description Public opinion is a central component of democratic politics; in this course we study public opinion in the United States. In addition to this substantive focus, the course is intended to foster the development of two skills: critical reading and rigorous, careful and clear writing. Course Overview To begin we briefly consider the meaning and measurement of the concept. We examine classic debates with implications for the competence of citizens, including voter ignorance, rationality, and sophistication. We review how voters make electoral decisions and survey the major ingredients of opinion material interests, partisan and social identities, prejudice and other group attitudes, and values. We study the impact of election campaigns, and elite sources of information (especially the news media). Finally we consider the responsiveness of political leaders to opinion and general questions of representation, with a special focus on the relationship between class, public opinion, and representation. Learning Objective The goal of this course is for you to understand the concept of public opinion how it has been used by scholars and political analysts to describe how people think about politics and behave in the polity. Assignments The reading load is light, in order to enable a close reading of each text. This close reading facilitates your attempts to map out the argument in each reading, along with the evidence for that argument, in a thorough manner, which in turn allows you to place the argument in dialogue with an argument from another reading. The ability to follow an argument, evaluate the evidence for it, and integrate it with additional arguments, will serve you well after you graduate. Before each class, I recommend that you take notes on the readings: the author s argument, the evidence for that argument, and how this argument relates to the other readings. In fact, doing so presents an opportunity for extra credit: students who turn in such notes for every class session will raise their grade by two-thirds of a point (e.g., from a C+ to a B). Students can turn these in electronically (by ing me) or via hard copy, and they are due by the beginning of class the day the relevant readings are discussed. 1

9 There are two types of assignments: papers and exams (essay format). Both the papers and the exams are written around themes; accordingly, the readings are organized by theme as noted in the timeline below. For example, the theme The Meaning and Measurement of Public Opinion encompasses the readings on January 24 th and January 26 th. Students write two papers through the course of the semester, and each paper will cover no more than one theme. Paper #1 addresses the readings organized around the theme of The Meaning and Measurement of Public Opinion note that this paper covers ALL the readings from this theme spanning two days of class (rather than just one). Similarly, Paper #2 addresses ALL the readings organized around the theme of your choice. Papers that do not cover all the readings will receive a failing grade. The final exam is take-home and cumulative; it is essay-based and covers all reading material from the beginning of the course to the time of the exam, with special emphasis on those readings not covered by the papers. It is very similar in structure to the papers, asking a broad question about a given theme the student is expected to rely heavily on the readings in her response. More details on the papers and the exams to follow. Grading I do not grade on a curve, in which students compete against each other for a pre-determined number of A s and B s. Rather, I set a standard and grade based on that standard. It is thus possible for everyone in the course to receive an A or for everyone in the course to receive an F. My goal, of course, is for all students to pass. The grading system is as follows: 1 st paper: 1/11 of the final grade 2 nd paper: 4/11 of the final grade Final Exam: 6/11 of the final grade The purpose of this grading system is to avoid putting a student s grades so far into a deficit that the student cannot recover. Rather, under this system, a low grade will be downweighted or even erased entirely if subsequent efforts show improvements. Thus the grading system rewards student development. Furthermore, there are three opportunities for extra credit, although none of these is traditionally thought of as an extra credit assignment. The first is that if the grade on your final exam is higher than the average of your first two papers (the weighted average, that is, as described above), this grade serves as your final grade for the class. Second, I reserve the right to raise a student s grade if participation in classroom discussion has been exemplary or if I view the student to have improved substantially over the course of the semester. Finally, as noted above, students who turn in such notes for every class session will raise their grade by two-thirds of a point on a four-point scale (e.g., from a C+ to a B). 2

10 Grade appeals are extremely unlikely to be successful; I suggest that students spend their time elsewhere unless there are clear errors in the grading. That said, errors do happen, and in such cases I want to know about them. Grade appeals should be in writing (rather than in person) and submitted no sooner (not no later, but no sooner!) than 48 hours after the grade is received. Electronic Devices Policy All electronic devices (computer, laptop, phone) must be turned off for the duration of the class meeting time. This comes at a cost some people, myself included, prefer to take notes via computer. Yet electronic devices can be distracting to people around the user as well as to the user herself. Furthermore, it is important to develop the habit of non-electronic note-taking; learning happens best when information is processed through multiple pathways, and the use of mixed media facilitates such processing. Typing up your hand-written notes after class is a great way to internalize the lessons of the course. Hard Copies of the Readings Please bring hard copies of the readings to class. This will facilitate a close discussion of the readings. I recognize that printing is costly accordingly and as noted below, no purchases for the course are required. Academic Conduct Code Students are advised to consult the University s Academic Conduct Code, which all students will be held to in this class. The BU Academic Conduct code can be found at: The GRS Academic Conduct code can be found at: Course Materials purchases are required for the course. Readings will be available at the link below. Erikson, Robert S., and Kent L. Tedin. American Public Opinion: Its Origins, Content, and Impact. 9 th Edition. Pearson. Attendance and Class Discussion Since the papers and the final exam cover the material discussed in class, it is in students interest to attend class sessions. I have no official attendance policy; students are not graded based on attendance or participation (with the exception of possible extra credit as mentioned above). However, those who would like to inform me that they will not be able to attend class due to a religious observance or an extracurricular event are welcome to do so. I ask that the classroom be a safe space for ideas to be developed and experimented with; it is possible to change one s mind, and one s position, at any time. Some may find the expression of others opinions offensive. Please be respectful when dissenting, yet do not be afraid to stand up for the values you believe in. Also note that the course will not be a referendum on everyone s 3

11 thoughts about public opinion and American politics today. Rather, the point is to learn from the readings indeed, to learn how to read (and write) better, in addition to learning the substantive points covered by contemporary research on public opinion. Policy My account is the best way to reach me; of course, students are welcome to drop by during office hours as well. I will usually respond to within 48 hours if I do not, please try again as something must have gone wrong! Students are expected to check their accounts regularly, as I will be using to provide announcements and updates about the course. Jan 19 Introduction Jan 24 The Meaning and Measurement of Public Opinion PART I Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 1: Public Opinion in Democratic Societies Walter Lippmann Public Opinion. (ch. 1) pp Herbert Blumer Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polling, Amer. Soc. Rev. 13: Jan 26 The Meaning and Measurement of Public Opinion PART II Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 1: Public Opinion in Democratic Societies Philip Converse Changing Conceptions of Public Opinion in the Political Process. POQ 51[Supplement]: Susan Herbst Numbered Voices: How Opinion Polling Has Shaped American Politics. (chs. 3) pp Jan 30 paper #1 due at 2 PM ( to spiston@bu.edu). Length: 2 pages single-spaced Jan 31 Attitudes, Sophistication and Competence PART I Philip Converse The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics. In Ideology and Discontent, edited by David Apter. pp Jon Krosnick The Threat of Satisficing in Surveys: The Shortcuts Respondents Take in Answering Questions. Survey Methods Newsletter 20(1): 4-8. Feb 2 Attitudes, Sophistication and Competence PART II Robert Lane Political Ideology. (ch. 1, 4, 22) pp. 1-11, 57-81, Larry Bartels Democracy with Attitudes. In Electoral Democracy, ed. MacKuen and Rabinowitz. pp Feb 7 Information, Rationality, and Representation PART I Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 3: Micro-level Opinion: The Psychology of Opinion-Holding 4

12 Michael Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter What Americans Know about Politics and Why It Matters. (ch. 1-2) pp Feb 14 Information, Rationality, and Representation PART II Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 3: Micro-level Opinion: The Psychology of Opinion-Holding Benjamin Page and Robert Shapiro The Rational Public. (ch. 1-2) pp Feb 21 paper #2 due at 5 PM ( to spiston@bu.edu). Paper can cover either (a) the theme of Attitudes, Sophistication and Competence (ALL readings from Jan 31 & Feb 2) or (b) the theme of Information, Rationality, and Representation (ALL readings from Feb 7 & Feb 14). Length: 2 pages single-spaced Feb 23 Partisanship and Political Choice Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 9: Elections as Instruments of Popular Control Morris Fiorina Retrospective Voting in American National Elections. (ch. 5) pp Feb 28 Economics, Interests, and Symbolic Politics PART I Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 7: Group Differences in Political Opinions Kay Schlozman and Sidney Verba Injury to Insult: Unemployment, Class, and Political Response. (ch. 5, 6 (part)) pp March 2 Economics, Interests, and Symbolic Politics PART II David Sears, Richard Lau, Tom Tyler, and Harris Allen Self-Interest versus Symbolic Politics in Policy Attitudes and Presidential Voting. APSR 74: Donald Kinder & D. Roderick Kiewiet Sociotropic Politics: The American Case. BJPS 11: March 7 & March 9 NO CLASS & NO OFFICE HOURS (SPRING BREAK) March 14 Race and Public Opinion PART I Kinder, Donald R., and Lynn M. Sanders Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. University of Chicago Press. Ch. 5 (pg ). Peffley, Mark and Jon Hurwitz Persuasion and Resistance: Race and the Death Penalty in America. American Journal of Political Science 51(4): March 16 Race and Public Opinion PART III 5

13 Michael Dawson Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African American Politics. (ch. 4) pp Krupnikov, Yanna, and Spencer Piston The Political Consequences of Latino Prejudice against Blacks. Public Opinion Quarterly 80: March 21 Ideology and Principles PART I Pamela Johnston Conover and Stanley Feldman The Origins and Meanings of Liberal/Conservative Self-Identifications. AJPS 25: Stanley Feldman Structure and Consistency in Public Opinion: The Role of Core Beliefs and Values. AJPS 32: March 23 Ideology and Principles PART II Stanley Feldman and John Zaller The Political Culture of Ambivalence. AJPS 36: Stanley Feldman and Marco R. Steenbergen "The humanitarian foundation of public support for social welfare." American Journal of Political Science: March 28 Elite Sources and Information Flow PART I Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 8: The News Media and Political Opinion Shanto Iyengar and Donald Kinder News That Matters. (chs. 1-3, 7) pp. 1-33, March 30 Elite Sources and Information Flow PART II Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 8: The News Media and Political Opinion Edward Carmines and James Stimson On the Structure and Sequence of Issue Evolution. APSR 80(3): Thomas Nelson and Donald Kinder Issue Frames and Group-Centrism in American Public Opinion, JoP 58: April 4 The Impact of Opinion on Political Leadership and Policy-Making PART I Warren Miller and Donald Stokes Constituency Influence in Congress. APSR 57: Paul Quirk and Joseph Hincliffe The Rising Hegemony of Mass Opinion. J. Pol Hist 10: April 6 NO CLASS (Instructor at Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting) April 11 The Impact of Opinion on Political Leadership and Policy-Making PART II Erikson and Tedin, Chapter 11: Public Opinion and the Performance of Democracy 6

14 Martin Gilens Inequality and Democratic Responsiveness. POQ 69(5): April 13 The Impact of Opinion on Political Leadership and Policy-Making PART III John Zaller Coming to Grips with V. O. Key s Concept of Latent Opinion. In Electoral Democracy. pp Lawrence Jacobs and Robert Shapiro Issues, Candidate Image, and Priming: The Use of Private Polls in Kennedy s 1960 Presidential Campaign. APSR 88(3): April 18 Class and Public Opinion PART I Thomas Frank Lie Down for America: How the Republican Party sows ruin on the Great Plains. Harper s Magazine pp [Condensed version of what was to become the first few chapters of the book What s the Matter with Kansas?] Larry Bartels What s the Matter with What s the Matter with Kansas? QJPS 1(2): April 20 Class and Public Opinion PART II Spencer Piston Why Americans Love the Welfare State. Unpublished book manuscript. Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 7 April 25 Class, Race, Place, and Donald Trump Cramer, Kathy The Politics of Resentment. University of Chicago Press. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 Kathy Cramer interview in Washington Post Kathy Cramer op ed in Vox April 27 Review Session, Part 1 of Final Exam May 2 Review Session, Part 2 of Final Exam May 8-12 TAKE HOME FINAL EXAM. Official date TBD depending on actions of Boston University administration 7