POLT 300 - Public Opinion, Polarization, and the Courts

FC SSCI QFR WADV

4 credits
This is an advanced seminar on public opinion and the courts. What factors shape public perceptions of judicial nominees, individual justices, and the Court as an institution? How do partisanship, affective polarization, ideology, and elite cues condition public approval and legitimacy? Seminar participants will engage with the leading literature on specific and diffuse support, media coverage, scandal, and the durability of public evaluations, as well as the downstream consequences of public opinion for acceptance and compliance with Court decisions. Seminar participants will engage in informed discussion and produce a major research paper with theoretical and empirical components.

Undergraduate Research Intensive