Fall 2008

PLAP 424B Beyond the Gap: Gender and Political Behavior
TR 15:30-16:45
CAB 423

Gender is a social system that defines relevant categories of people, prescribes appropriate attributes and behaviors to those categories, and regularizes power relations among individuals and between society and individuals. Children are socialized very early to recognize, understand, and enact gender, and adults understand and enact it as well.

Yet an amazing proportion of the work on gender and mass political behavior has focused on the gender gap—the average difference between women and men in political attitudes, voting, and other political action. These differences are important, both theoretically and politically, but the gender gap only scratches the surface of the ways that gender can matter for mass politics. This course, therefore, explores the ways gender structures the political system and our understanding of it, and therefore affects political behavior in ways that go well beyond the gender gap.

We will consider the theoretical place of gender in American politics. Has politics been constructed as a symbolically masculine realm? What effects does that have on citizens' attitudes and behavior? Is that changing? In exploring these themes, we will take up a number of topics, including the unavoidable gender gap, the role of masculinity and femininity in conditioning our perceptions of issues and political candidates, and the ways race and gender (and class) interact in conditioning political behavior.

Prerequisite: Students must have taken at least one class on gender or one class on public opinion or political behavior. Priority will be given to politics majors and to fourth year students.

The syllabus is available here.

Spring 2008

PLAP 227—Public Opinion and Political Behavior
MW10:00-10:50
Ruffner Hall G004A

This course will examine public opinion and assess its place in the American political system. The course will emphasize both how citizens thinking about politics is shaped and the role of public opinion in political campaigns, elections, and government. While the course will focus on research on the current state of public opinion, throughout the course we will also discuss historical developments in opinion and its place in politics, including changes that arose with the development of polling and with the advent of television and other electronic media. We will also consider normative questions, including the role opinion should play in American democracy.

The syllabus is available here.

The course web page is available here.

PLAD 710—Political Research With Quantitative Methods
MW 1:00–2:15pm
McLeod Hall 2006

This course will introduce students to some basic methods for conducting quantitative analyses in political science, with a focus on statistics and econometrics. The central theme of the course consists in applying quantitative methods to explore and evaluate political science theories. Statistical analysis has become a standard elements of the political science “tool kit,” and basic familiarity with it is valuable for students in all sub-fields of the discipline. My goal in this class is provide basic familiarity with statistics and econometrics for studying politics, and to lay a solid foundation for further coursework for those who choose to pursue quantitative analysis in more depth. Thus, we will begin at the beginning—with basic probability theory—then move through basic statistical analysis, and conclude with regression analysis. The lectures and problem sets will include a moderate amount of statistical theory, because I believe strongly that familiarity with the underlying theory is critical to the smart application of statistical techniques. The later problem sets will shift the emphasis toward application and data analysis. There are no prerequisites for the course. The course will include some mathematical content; however, no math beyond high school algebra is assumed before you begin.

The syllabus is available here.

The course web page is available here.

Fall 2007

PLAP 424B Beyond the Gap: Gender and Political Behavior
TR 15:30-16:45
CAB 119

Gender is a social system that defines relevant categories of people, prescribes appropriate attributes and behaviors to those categories, and regularizes power relations among individuals and between society and individuals. Children are socialized very early to recognize, understand, and enact gender, and adults understand and enact it as well.

Yet an amazing proportion of the work on gender and mass political behavior has focused on the gender gap—the average difference between women and men in political attitudes, voting, and other political action. These differences are important, both theoretically and politically, but the gender gap only scratches the surface of the ways that gender can matter for mass politics. This course, therefore, explores the ways gender structures the political system and our understanding of it, and therefore affects political behavior in ways that go well beyond the gender gap.

We will consider the theoretical place of gender in American politics. Has politics been constructed as a symbolically masculine realm? What effects does that have on citizens' attitudes and behavior? Is that changing? In exploring these themes, we will take up a number of topics, including the unavoidable gender gap, the role of masculinity and femininity in conditioning our perceptions of issues and political candidates, and the ways race and gender (and class) interact in conditioning political behavior.

Prerequisite: Students must have taken at least one class on gender or one class on public opinion or political behavior. Priority will be given to politics majors and to fourth year students.

Spring 2007

PLAP 227—Public Opinion and Political Behavior
MW10:00-10:50
Ruffner Hall G004A

This course will examine public opinion and assess its place in the American political system. The course will emphasize both how citizens thinking about politics is shaped and the role of public opinion in political campaigns, elections, and government. While the course will focus on research on the current state of public opinion, throughout the course we will also discuss historical developments in opinion and its place in politics, including changes that arose with the development of polling and with the advent of television and other electronic media. We will also consider normative questions, including the role opinion should play in American democracy.

PLAD 710—Political Research With Quantitative Methods
MW 1:00–2:15pm
McLeod Hall 2006

This course will introduce students to some basic methods for conducting quantitative analyses in political science, with a focus on statistics and econometrics. The central theme of the course consists in applying quantitative methods to explore and evaluate political science theories. Statistical analysis has become a standard elements of the political science “tool kit,” and basic familiarity with it is valuable for students in all sub-fields of the discipline. My goal in this class is provide basic familiarity with statistics and econometrics for studying politics, and to lay a solid foundation for further coursework for those who choose to pursue quantitative analysis in more depth. Thus, we will begin at the beginning—with basic probability theory—then move through basic statistical analysis, and conclude with regression analysis. The lectures and problem sets will include a moderate amount of statistical theory, because I believe strongly that familiarity with the underlying theory is critical to the smart application of statistical techniques. The later problem sets will shift the emphasis toward application and data analysis. There are no prerequisites for the course. The course will include some mathematical content; however, no math beyond high school algebra is assumed before you begin.