This seminar is earmarked for NECD, IP, DR, NP
Description
Political scientists often study politics from a structural perspective and look at institutions, laws, economy, social structures, organizations and so on. All these structures, however, are made by people and, more importantly, these are made to influence human behavior. From that structural point of view, human behavior is often understood as rational calculation. Predictable and generalizable.
Psychology teaches us that human rationality in the strictest sense doesn’t exist. People are confined by their own psychological makeup (like personalities, traits, beliefs, biases, and so on), and people at large are influenced by all kinds of psychological mechanisms that they are not always consciously aware of (in-out group bias, group dynamics, and so on). This goes for you and me, but this also goes for everyone in politics.
This seminar introduces you to a selection of political psychological theories and approaches that describe and explain the psychological mechanisms that can drive politics. In brief lectures the theories and approaches will be explained, after which we will discuss how these mechanisms impact politics, and reflect upon our own awareness about these mechanisms in our (social) lives.
Objectives
Objective 1: Students will learn to think and write about:
The role of actors within politics
Political psychological approaches to study political actors and their decision making processes
Objective 2: Students will acquire the following skills:
Learn to reflect upon he impact of psychology on human behavior
Appraise the strengths and limitations of political psychological approaches to study politics.
Learn to apply the concepts and theories to empirical cases
Method of instruction
Seminar
Study Material
Journal articles and book chapters.
The reading list and the course syllabus will be posted on Brightspace before the start of the course.
Language
In principle, we’ll speak English during the classes. In the case that all participants master Dutch, we might decide to switch to Dutch. Papers can be written in Dutch and in English. I recommend you to write in the language you feel most comfortable in.
Assessment Method
Your final grade is based on:
Participation: 20%
Group Assignment: 40%
Final exam: 40% - Tuesday 17 December 13.00-15.00 in room 1A07 PDLC
Registration
See 'Practical Information'
Timetable
See 'MyTimetable'