Download WEEK 1 - Big Think

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COMM 531:
POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
SPRING 2008
Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D
Assistant Professor | School of Communication | American University
E-Mail: [email protected]| Office: 220 McCabe | Voice/Text: 614.353.4951
Class: Tues 810-1040 | Classroom: MGC 303A
Office Hours: Tues. 2-8pm or By Appt.
220 McCabe
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course reviews major areas of research in political communication, connecting this scholarly work
to the insights of leading political strategists and journalists. General topics covered include:
A) How political communication and various forms of media shape civic life, elections, and policy
decisions, and what this means for the health of democratic institutions and decision-making.
B) How citizens, journalists, and elected officials make sense of and use political messages.
Specifically how news, advertising, and entertainment media shape political perceptions,
emotions, and behavior and what this means for effective communication strategy.
C) How micro-targeting and “on the ground” recruitment strategies are either complementing or
replacing traditional campaign activities and mobilization efforts.
D) How soft news and late night comedy along with blogs and social networking sites have shaped
campaign strategy and news coverage; how citizens use this political information, and what it
means for both campaign strategy but also civic life.
E) And as special topics, how these themes apply to the debate over the war in Iraq and to the
nature and future of America’s youngest citizens, in other words, citizens like you.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Analysis Memo on Super Tuesday (10%): We will be gathering on Feb. 5 to watch the Super
Tuesday primaries, an event that will probably determine the nominees in both parties. In light of the
first three weeks of course readings and discussion, you will be writing a 1,000 word memo evaluating
the strategies of the candidates leading up to either the Democratic or Republican primary and how the
press reported on and defined the election night outcome.
Take Home Mid-Term Exam (30%) & Take Home Final-Exam (30%): You will be
completing two take home essay exams that test your understanding of key theories and concepts and
your ability to apply these principles to political communication strategy.
In Class Debate (10%): You will be assigned to positions and teams to debate the nature of
young voter engagement and the role of the new media in this process. You will work with your group
to put together a power point presentation to present to the class, arguing against an opposing team.
This will be a group collaboration and grade.
Position Paper (20%): As a complement to the class debate, you will be authoring
individually a 2,000 word evidence-based position paper on youth civic engagement and the role of
new media.
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES
1.
2.
3.
4.
Super Tuesday Strategy Memo In class Tues. 2/19
Take Home Mid-Term, In class Tues. 3/11
In class debate / Position paper due, Tues. 4/15
Take home final due Tues. 4/29
ON THE READINGS, OFFICE HOURS, AND KEEPING UP
All readings that are not hyperlinked in the online version of this syllabus can be found as PDF files on
the course web site, available via American University’s blackboard system.
There is a lot of reading assigned but my goal as your professor is to be your narrator, guide, and
translator of this material. With each class, there will be a powerpoint presentation available to
download from Blackboard. This, along with your own notes and class discussion, should serve as a
good outline for the readings.
Moreover, I strongly suggest that you attend office hours regularly. A second major mode of learning
in this course will take place through the conversations that we are able to have one-on-one.
The best political strategists and public affairs PR managers are voracious readers, combining a
knowledge of the relevant basic research on political communication with an understanding of
contemporary events and issues.
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***Therefore, as part of this class, I expect you to be regular readers of the NY Times and Washington
Post, while monitoring other sources of media including NPR, cable news, and blogs. In order to
understand political communication, as a habit, you have to live it on a daily basis. A good daily
summary of articles, polling, and commentary from these sites is found at RealClearPolitics.com. I also
suggest that you read daily the Drudge Report.com.***
ON LEARNING STRATEGIES
There is some tough reading in this course and a lot of information. It won’t be easy. Yet there are a
few strategies that are likely to bring success. One of the best ways to understand any subject is to
actively try to make connections between a new topic and information you already have stored in
memory. The more you can make connections between the new material you encounter in this class,
and what you already “know” (like things you’ve read in the news or learned in other classes), the
better you will be able to remember it, and ultimately apply it.
The ultimate goal is “knowledge integration,” connecting the dots between what at first might appear
to be disparate concepts, but are in fact ideas that fit together into a bigger picture, thereby providing a
broader context for understanding. The best way to achieve knowledge integration is to:
A) Make sure you do all the reading before class, actively drawing out the implications of the
readings to things you already know, have read in the news, or are learning in other classes.
B) Participate actively in class, challenging the propositions and evidence provided in the studies,
by the professor, or other students; and asking questions about things you may not understand.
Disagreement is good.
C) Discuss the readings outside of class, at office hours, or informally with fellow students and/or
the professor.
D) Review the readings again in doing weekly assignments, preparing for the final exam, and in
working on your group project.
E) Think. Talk. Think. Talk. The more times you engage with the material in this course--and talk
to others about it--the more successful you will be.
OFFICE HOURS
My job is to help you learn. I welcome conversations during and outside of class. Please feel free to
come to office hours on a regular basis to talk about the course, the readings, your final paper, current
events or issues, or career prospects and opportunities. If for some reason you can’t make office hours,
we can schedule an appointment. You can sign up for a slot during office hours by first checking
availability at blackboard and then by emailing me a requested time. I will then add your name to the
schedule.
Tuesdays 2pm to 8pm or by Appt.
220 McCabe
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CLASS SCHEDULE AND READINGS
Week 1. TUES 1/15
* Course Overview and Discussion of Key Themes
Week 2. TUES 1/29
THE FOUNDATIONS:
VALUES, EMOTION, AND POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
* What does it mean to study political communication?
McLeod, D. M., Kosicki, G. M., & McLeod, J. M. (2002). Resurveying the boundaries of
political communications effects. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.) Media effects: Advances in
theory and research, 2nd edition (pp. 215-267). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
* We are politically as we are socially and emotionally...
Glynn, C.L., Herbst, S., O’Keefe, G.J., & Shapiro, R.Y. eds (1999). Public Opinion and
Democratic Competence, Chapter 8. In Public Opinion, pp. 249-298. Boulder, CO: Westview
Press.
Westen, D. (2007). The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the
Nation. New York: Public Affairs, pg. 1-44.
* Was 2004 the values election?
Fiorina, Morris P. 2004. Holy War’over Moral Values or Contempt for Opinion? San Francisco
Chronicle Nov. 21, B5. ##
Krauthammer, C. 2004. “Moral Values ‘Myth.’” Washington Post Nov. 12, A25. ##
Mulligan, K. (2008). The “Myth” of Moral Values Voting in the 2004 Presidential Election.
PS: Political Science & Politics, 41: 109-114.
* Or was it the “who do you want to have a beer” with election?
Zernike, Kate, and John M. Broder. 2004. “War? Jobs? No, Character Counted Most to
Voters.” New York Times, Nov. 4. ##
Prysby, C. (2008). Perceptions of Candidate Character Traits and the Presidential Vote in 2004.
PS: Political Science & Politics, 41: 115-122.
## Available online, hyperlinked on Blackboard Word document syllabus, Course Info Folder.
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Week 3. TUES. 1/29
THE FOUNDATIONS:
MANAGING THE NEWS MEDIA AND THE HORSE RACE
*Controlling the message instead of the press controlling you…
Iyengar, S. & McGrady, J. (2007). Media & Politics: A Citizen’s Guide. New York, WW
Norton, pp. 48-82.
Iyengar, S. & McGrady, J. (2007). Media & Politics: A Citizen’s Guide. New York, WW
Norton, pp. 127-136.
Halperin, M. & Harris, J. (2007). Freak Show Politics, In The Way To Win, pp 28-47. New
York: Random House.
*Horse race journalism and fact checking…
Patterson, T.E. (2005). Of Polls, Mountains: U.S. Journalists and Their Use of Election
Surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly 69, 5, 716-724.
Pew (2008, Jan. 9). New Hampshire Teaches the News Media a Lesson.##
Pew (2007, Oct. 29). The Invisible Primary, Invisible No More. ##
Dobbs, M. (2007, Dec. 3). The Fact Checker: Sorting Truth from Campaign Fiction.
Washington Post, A01.##
PBS Bill Moyers (2007, Dec. 7.) Interview with Kathleen Hall Jamieson. Read Transcript.##
## Available online, hyperlinked on Blackboard Word document syllabus, Course Info Folder.
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Week 4. TUES 2/05
SUPER TUESDAY:
DECODING THE REALITY & THE SPECTACLE
Location to be announced, attendance will be taken.
*
*
Readings will be assigned a week before February 5.
Primary night analysis memo. Due in class on 2/19.
Weeks 5 & 6. TUES 2/19 & TUES. 2/26
CAMPAIGN STRATEGY:
NEWS COVERAGE, TV ADVERTISING, & MICROTARGETING
*The cognitive biases that drive campaign effects…
Scheufele, D. A. (2000). Agenda-setting, priming, and framing revisited: Another look at
cognitive effects of political communication. Mass Communication & Society, 3 (2), 297-316.
Druckman, J. (2004). Priming the Vote: Campaign Effects in a US Senate Election. Political
Psychology 25: 577-594.
*Emotion: Why political advertising still matters…
Lau, R. R., Sigelman, L., Heldman, C., and Babbitt, P. (1999). The effects of negative political
advertisements: A meta-analytic assessment. American Political Science Review, 93 (4), 851875.
Westen, D. (2007). The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the
Nation. New York: Public Affairs, pg. 317-347.
*Insider views on campaigns won and lost…
Halperin, M. & Harris, J. (2007). “The Freak Show: The Way to Lose,” In The Way To Win,
pp 2-23. New York: Random House.
Halperin, M. & Harris, J. (2007). “How the Freak Show Killed Al Gore,” In The Way To Win,
pp 120-33. New York: Random House.
Bai, M. (2004, April 24). Multi-Level Marketing the President. New York Times Magazine.##
Jamieson, K.H. (Ed). (2006). Electing the President: 2004. The Insider’s View. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 21-38.
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Jamieson, K.H. (Ed). (2006). Electing the President: 2004. The Insider’s View. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 39-83.
*Take Home Mid-Term Passed Out in Class on 2/26
Week 7. TUES 3/4
GOVERNING STRATEGY:
WHITE HOUSE & CONGRESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
*Controlling the message and shaping public approval…
Kumar, M.J. (2007). Managing the President’s Message. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins
University, pp. 283-306.
Coe et al. (2004). No shades of gray: The binary discourse of George W. Bush and an echoing
press. Journal of Communication, 54: 234-252.
*How journalists view governing by messaging…
Seelye, K.Q. (2006, Feb. 27). Another White House Press Briefing, Another Day of Mutual
Mistrust. New York Times.##
Brownstein, R. (2007). “The 51 Percent Solution: Republican Strategy in the Bush Years,” in
The Second Civil War, pp 263-324. New York: The Penguin Press.
Brownstein, R. (2007). “The Opposition in an Age of Polarization” in The Second Civil War,
pp 325-363. New York: The Penguin Press.
Halperin, M. & Harris, J. (2007). “Mastering the Freak Show,” In The Way To Win, pp 281332. New York: Random House.
## Available online, hyperlinked on Blackboard Word document syllabus, Course Info Folder.
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Week 8. TUES 3/11
POLICY DEBATES:
INTEREST GROUPS AND THINK TANKS
*Take Home Mid-Term Due in Class
*Selling Expertise to Policymakers and the Media: The Case of Climate Change…
McCright, A.M. & Dunlap, R.E. (2003). Defeating Kyoto: The Conservative Movement’s
Impact on U.S. Climate Change Policy. Social Problems, 50, (3), 348-373.
Mooney, C. (2005, May/June). Some like It Hot. Mother Jones. ##
*Communicating conservative and liberal ideas…
Bai, Matt (2007). The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic
Politics. New York: Penguin Press, pp. 23-48.
Bai, Matt (2007). The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic
Politics. New York: Penguin Press, pp. 94-122.
The Powell Memo.##
*The case of MoveOn.org…
Bai, Matt (2007). The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic
Politics. New York: Penguin Press, pp. 67-91.
MoveOn.org Ad Controversy. Wikipedia.
Lakoff, G. (2007) Who’s Betrayal? Huffington Post.
Boehlert, E (2007). MoveOn.org and the Media Mess? Media Matters for America.
## Available online, hyperlinked on Blackboard Word document syllabus, Course Info Folder.
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Week 9. TUES 3/18
FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY:
THE DECISION TO GO TO WAR IN IRAQ
*Reporting the case for war: what went wrong?
Watch Bill Moyers PBS documentary Buying the War.
On reserve at library or watch online.##
Bennett, L.W., Lawrence, R.G., & Livingstone, S. (2007). When the Press Fails. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, pp. 13-71.
*Why hasn’t the public turned against the war?
Gelpi, C., P. D. Feaver, and J. Reifler. 2005-2006. Success matters: Casualty sensitivity and the
war in Iraq. International Security 30: 7-46.##
Shane, S. (2005, Dec. 4). Bush's Speech on Iraq War Echoes Voice of an Analyst. Washington
Post.##
Mueller, J. E. 2005. The Iraq syndrome. Foreign Affairs 84: 44-54.##
Gelpi, C., and J. E. Mueller. 2006. The cost of war (response): How many casualties will
Americans tolerate? Foreign Affairs 85: 139-144.##
*Journalists rethink their norms and their routines…
Cunningham, B. (2007, Nov/Dec). The rhetoric beat: Why journalism needs one. Columbia
Journalism Review.##
Cunningham, B. (2003, July/August). Rethinking objectivity. Columbia Journalism Review.##
## Available online, hyperlinked on Blackboard Word document syllabus, Course Info Folder.
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Week 10. TUES 3/25
THE FUTURE OF POLITICS?
YOUNG VOTERS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Are young voters disengaged?
Zukin, C., Keeter, S., Andolina, M., Jenkins, K., & Delli Carpini, M.(2007). A New
Engagement? Oxford University Press, pp. 17-48.
Zukin, C., Keeter, S., Andolina, M., Jenkins, K., & Delli Carpini, M.(2007). A New
Engagement? Oxford University Press, pp. 185-210.
Youth Politics Offline and Online…
Bennett, L. (2007) Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age. In Civic Life Online, L. Bennett
(ed), Boston: MIT Press.##
Conlin, M. (2008, Jan. 9). Youth Quake. BusinessWeek.##
Romano, L (2008, Jan. 10). Generation Y Ready to Rock the Election? Washington Post.##
Week 11. TUES 4/1
THE FUTURE OF POLITICS?
INFOTAINMENT AND LATE NIGHT COMEDY
Strategic and civic impacts?
Baum, M. (2005). Talking the Vote: Why Presidential Candidates Hit the Talk Show Circuit.
American Journal of Political Science, 49, 2, 213-234.
Brewer, P.R. and Cao, X (2006). Candidate Appearances on Soft News Shows and Public
Knowledge about Primary Campaigns. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 50(1):1835.
Good for democracy?
Hart, R. & Hartelius, J. (2007). The political sins of John Stewart. Critical Studies in Mass
Communication, 24, 3, 263-272.
Bennett, L. (2007). Relief in Hard Times: A Defense of Jon Stewart's Comedy in an Age of
Cynicism. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 24, 3, 278-283.
## Available online, hyperlinked on Blackboard Word document syllabus, Course Info Folder.
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Week 12. TUES 4/08
THE FUTURE OF POLITICS?
BLOGS AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
*Take Home Final Passed Out in Class
Audiences and impacts…
Sunstein, C (2007). Republic.com 2.0. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp 1-18; 4696, & 138-150.
Tremayne, M. (2006). Harnessing the active audience. Synthesizing Blog Research and
Lessons for the Future of Media. In M. Tremayne (Ed), Blogging, Citizenship, and the Future
of Media. New York: Routledge Press, pp. 261-272.
Institute for Politics Democracy & the Internet (2007). Poli-Influentials: The New Political
Kingmakers. George Washington University.
The influence of Matt Drudge…
Halperin, M. & Harris, J. (2007). “How Matt Drudge Rules Our World,” In The Way To Win,
pp 52-64. New York: Random House.
Halperin, M. & Harris, J. (2007). “Clinton vs. Drudge,” In The Way To Win, pp 109-117. New
York: Random House.
Week 13 TUES 4/15
IN CLASS DEBATE
Young voters and the future of politics:
Are Facebook, Oprah, and John Stewart Good for Democracy?
Week 14 TUES 4/22
CATCH UP AND REVIEW
Week 14 TUES 4/29
TAKE HOME FINAL DUE
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