GVPT379P

A seminar on the processes of political polarization reviewing the intersection of political science literature and social psychology literature on the subject. Though this seminar primarily revolves around American politics, the nature of the subject generally applies to interest in comparative and international politics. Broadly covering research on top-down processes of political polarization (e.g., elite-driven cues, elite vs. mass public polarization, affective polarization) as well as bottom-up processes based in social and personality psychology (e.g., individual differences, motivational needs, social context). In addition, topics of social cognition, partisanship, public opinion, vote choice, conspiracy theory belief endorsement, and political violence will be discussed.