In this graduate class we will investigate how psychological theory
helps us to understand how people act (and interact) in the
political arena. We will start with basic psychological concepts
including attitudes, behavior and cognition.  We talk about
applications of the experimental method to political phenomena
looking at important work that has given us new insights in the
discipline. Focusing on the American political context we will
discuss how citizens form opinions about issues and candidates and
how they may be subject to persuasion by media outlets and political
elites. We will also discuss how elite decision-makers, including
judges and world leaders, structure their decision tasks to maximize
the influence of “expert” knowledge and prevent biases.  Finally, we
will discuss how people come to identify as part of a larger “social
group,” looking at research on social identity and inter-group
relations that has important implications for political phenomena.