Political Science 308 - Public Opinion in Politics

This course explores the landscape of opinion on a variety of political topics to develop an understanding about how the public thinks about issues and why they think the way they do. It also examines how peoples' opinions influence their behavior, and whether or not political leaders follow the "will of the public" or manipulate public opinion to achieve their own aims. Objectives for this course are: To understand how surveys are conducted, including sampling and questionnaire design, and how to interpret their results; To become familiar with political science theories about how people form opinions and how those opinions change; To recognize when and how elites can manipulate public opinion; and To evaluate the role of public opinion in a democratic system. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-PolSci majors.

Open to Senior, Junior and Sophomore POLISCI majors.