F0SP 2055 - Public Opinion

This course surveys the study of public opinion, which has been under active investigation in the social sciences for the past 100 years and crosses disciplinary boundaries. The course will focus on understanding the nature and origins of public opinion as well as the ways it does and does not influence the decision that governments make. Most of this research has been conducted in the context of democratic systems, but scholars have increasingly turned their attention to public opinion in non-democratic systems as well. The trajectory of this research area was also heavily influenced by the “behavioral revolution” in the 1950s and 1960s, and as such, is dominated by quantitative methodology. Nonetheless, the course will also endeavor to include qualitative methods as well.

Group discussion, lecture

Participation, reading summaries, literature review