This course focuses on the nexus of public opinion, elections, and democratic institutions in the United States at the local, state, and federal levels. The relationship of the voters and the politician who represent them is of fundamental importance in a democracy. But how well does representation work? More fundamentally, this course seeks to explain why Americans vote the way they do, and what effect this has on public policy. Along the way, many questions about the electoral system and its consequences will be explored. For example, how did Barack Obama change the electoral map in his decisive 2008 victory, and does this presage a new period of progressive political dominance? What makes red and blue states the way they are, and why have things changed so much over time? How can it be that rich states vote Democratic at the same time that rich people vote Republican? How is it that the media gets things so wrong when it covers elections? This course will be conducted in a seminar format. Interested students will get the option of using important new and unreleased voter and politician data for their final projects.
