Teaching

Spring Quarter, 2012-2013

Experimental methods have become the standard in many fields of political science.  We survey the logic and practice of experimentation as applied to laboratory, field and survey settings.  We discuss the strengths and limitations of experiments in relation to observational methods.  Design considerations include randomization, the construction of treatments, the use of deception, ethical implications of deception, and new developments in subject recruitment. Turning to the analysis of experimental data, we describe the methods for estimating treatment effects, interactions, and more complex indirect effects stemming from either mediator or moderator variables. We also cover appropriate data analytic strategies for estimating causal effects from natural and "quasi-experimental" designs including interrupted time series, differences-in-differences, the regression-discontinuity design, matching and instrumental variables.

Fall Quarter, 2012-2013

This course examines the theory and practice of American political campaigns. First, we attempt to explain the behavior of the key players -- candidates, journalists, and voters -- in terms of the institutional arrangements and political incentives that confront them. Second, we will use the 2008 and ongoing 2012 election campaigns as "laboratories" for testing generalizations about candidate and voter behavior. Third, we examine selections from the academic literature dealing with the immediate effects of campaigns on public opinion and voter behavior as well as more long-term consequences for governance and the political process.

Winter Quarter, 2010-2011

This class surveys the principal topics and lines of research in the study of individual political behavior. The class will commence with consideration of classical perspectives on voting and public opinion. But even at the starting point its concern is with current approaches and open questions -- both very much in the plural. Specific research areas singled out for review include polarization, campaigns, personality, political communication, and race in American politics.

Spring Quarter, 2009-2010

This course examines the role of mass media in the democratic process. We begin by considering the "public service" responsibilities of the press -- to inform and engage citizens -- and the various policy regimes for implementing these responsibilities. Second, we examine the determinants of news coverage, including market forces and the internal workings of press organizations. Third, we discuss the ways in which news programming affects the audience -- both the mass public and political elites. Fourth, we explain the design and evolution of media-based campaigns, with particular emphasis given to the strategic interplay between reporters, candidates, and voters. We also document the gradual extension of "going public" and related techniques to the policy-making arena. Finally, we assess the potential of new technologies to alter the landscape of media politics.