Office Hours: TR 1-2, Phone: 257-7033, e-mail: mpeffl@uky.edu
Website: http://www.uky.edu/AS/PoliSci/facultad.htm
Several texts are assigned for this
course, all of which are available at the university bookstores (University and
Kennedy's).
·
Martin Gilens.
Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media,
and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy.
·
Robert M. Entman,
Andrew Rojecki, Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in
·
Donald Kinder and
·
In addition,
students are required to read several articles from political science journals,
most of which are available through JSTOR
using a university computer and can be either printed there or downloaded for viewing with Acrobat Reader.
The syllabus on the internet contains a link to instructions on how to
use JSTOR (for locating and printing articles) and Acrobat Reader (for viewing
files).
STUDENT
RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Participation
The course will be run as a discussion seminar, meaning that
students are expected to have read and considered the course readings in
preparation for each class. Students are
also expected to participate in class discussions and to be ready to do so on the
subject of the day.
Our class time will not be spent simply "going
over" the assigned readings.
Rather, the readings will serve as a foundation and point of departure for lectures and discussions. It is, therefore, imperative that students complete the assigned readings before
a particular topic is taken up in class.
Also, the assigned readings should not be viewed as absolute truth. Read the material thoughtfully, challenge the
conclusions of the authors, and voice your criticisms in class.
Students should feel free to raise questions concerning the
readings, the lectures, and the comments of other students. In other words, meaningful participation is
strongly encouraged and will, no doubt, enhance the quality of our class
sessions.
2. Written Assignments and Quizzes
There will be several (2) short written
assignments that require very little outside reading beyond that which has been
assigned. These short (4 page) papers
are designed to help students organize and think more reflectively about the
material in the course, and to apply many of the issues we discuss in class to
the "real world." The written assignments cannot be turned in late,
except for university excused absences. Also, because the readings are an
important basis for class discussions, several short quizzes over the assigned
readings may be administered.
3. Examinations and Grades
Grades will be based on the following
criteria:
Midterm 35% of Grade
Final Exam 40% of Grade
Written Assignments 15% of Grade
Participation 10% of Grade
Note: If a student has
a university-excused absence, arrangements for a make-up exam may be made. (See Section 2.4.2, Part II of the Student
Rights and Responsibilities handbook for a definition of university-excused absences.) Note, however, that the format of a make-up
will not be the same as the regular exam.
I. Introduction (first class)
II.
Political Tolerance, Political
Repression, and Democratic Theories:
·
What is political
tolerance and how important is it for the health or viability of
democracy? (1 class)
·
How do citizens
formulate opinions on political issues, in general, and what methods should be
used to measure public opinion? (1 class)
·
How politically
tolerant are Americans, both masses and elites, what are the roots of political
intolerance, and what implications does this have for democratic government and
democratic theories? (1 class)
·
How do Americans
compare with other countries and what does this tell us about the roots of
intolerance? (1 class)
·
Hate Speech in
Historical Perspective: How has hate speech been regulated in the past and to
what extent should it be regulated now?
(1 class)
Read: James L. Gibson, "Political Intolerance and
Political Repression during the McCarthy Red Scare," American
Political Science Review, 82(2) (June 1988): 511-530. (JSTOR), Economy File
John L. Sullivan, et al. “The Sources of Political
Tolerance: A Multivariate Analysis,” American Political Science
Review, Vol. 75, No. 1. (Mar., 1981), pp. 92-106. (JSTOR), skim.
John L. Sullivan, et al. “Why Politicians Are More Tolerant:
Selective Recruitment and Socialization among Political Elites in
Economy File
Lecture Outline I: Democratic Theories and
Political Tolerance
Lecture Outline II: Empirical
Evidence to Evaluate Democratic Theories
Anti-Gaye
Hate Speech Web Sites
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
III. Racial
Polarization: How deep are the
political divisions between whites and blacks and how have whites’ racial
attitudes changed over the last 50 years or so?
(1 class)
Read: Kinder
and Sanders, Divided by Color, Part I (chs
1-3)
Lecture Outline III: "Racial Attitudes"
Handout: "Trends in Racial Attitudes"
Frontline
Web-site: “The
Two Nations of Black America”
Read: Hurwitz
& Peffley, Ch 2: Sniderman, et al., “Prejudice and Politics: An
Intellectual Biography of a Research Project.”
Hurwitz & Peffley, Ch 3: Kuklinski and Cobb: “When White Southerners Converse About
Race”
Hurwitz & Peffley, Ch 5: Carmines and Layman, “When Prejudice Matters: The
Impact of Racial Stereotypes on the Racial Policy Preferences of Democrats and
Republicans”
Hurwitz & Peffley, Ch 8: Knight, “In Their Own Words:
Citizens’ Explanations of Inequality between the Races,” (skim)
Take
the Implicit Association Test
(IAT), designed by social psychologists to measure implicit, hidden racial
attitudes and biases
Experiencing prejudice: Steele, C. M. (1999, August). Thin ice:
"Stereotype threat" and black college students. The Atlantic Monthly.
284(2), 44-47, 50-54.
Read: Kinder
and Sanders, Divided by Color, Part II (chs
4-6)
Lecture
Outline: Racial Attitudes
Review
Questions for Midterm Exam
MIDTERM EXAMINATION: March 6th
March 14: Last day to
Withdraw
March 17-22: SPRING BREAK!!
News Worth Watching! The
Daily Show
Recommended Daily Show Clips: (You must install Real Player to view the clips)
Jon
Stewart: I on News - C-SPAN
Jon Stewart: March Madness!
Stephen
Colbert reports from the front...of the Kodak Theater in Hollywood
Stephen Colbert - In the Spirit of Spring Break
Steve
Carell - Fair and Balanced
Steve
Carell - Who's Your Baghdaddy?
Read: Gilens, Why
Americans Hate Welfare, entire.
Lecture
Outline: Racial Stereotyping: Processes,
Antecedents and Political Consequences
Read: Kinder
and Sanders, Divided by Color, Parts
III-IV (chs 7-10)
Read: Robert
M. Entman, Andrew Rojecki , Black Image in the
White Mind: Media and Race in America, chs 2-5.
Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr., and Shanto Iyengar.
2000. “Prime
Suspects: The Influence of Local Television News on the Viewing Public.”
Robert M. Entman, Andrew Rojecki
, chs 9, 11, 12.
Review Questions for Final Exam
