POT 3203 Fall 2024

Week 5 Module

THEME: Ideologies and Polarization

DEADLINES:

Quiz and Part A questions:       Monday 9/23 in Webcourses

Part B posts:                                   Wednesday 9/25 in Yellowdig

WEEK 5 ASSIGNED READINGS

Instructor’s Remarks for Week 5, Polarization. In Files under Assigned Readings.

Kinder and Kalmoe, Neither Liberal nor Conservative: Ideological Innocence in the American Public, University of Chicago Press, 2017. Selected excerpts in Files under Assigned Readings. It is probably enough that you read only the passages marked in red color (underlined or bracketed).

Karen Stenner and Jonathan Haidt, Authoritarianism is not a Momentary Madness… Pages 175-188 and 209-217 only. A total of 21 pages.

Arlie Russel Hochschild, Strangers in their Own Land, excerpts in Files.

WEEK 5 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

• Describe in general terms the notion of ideological innocence articulated by Kinder and Kalmoe.
• Describe in general terms the paradox at the heart of American public opinion identified by Stimson and Ellis.
• Describe the three varieties of conservatism according to Stenner and Haidt.
• Describe the deep story animating Tea Party supporters in Louisiana as identified by Hochschild.

PART A TASKS in Webcourses

See Tips for Posting in Part A in Files.

Q-0:  Is there an idea or a claim expressed in the readings that you find difficult, confusing, or unclear? If so, tell us which idea this is. Cite the document title and page where you encountered this idea. We cannot help you if the description of what is unclear is overly broad. You do not need to answer this question. If everything is clear, there is not point in answering. Q-0 is NOT for issues or ideas you understand but disagree with. It is only for ideas or claims you do not understand. If you have a disagreement or simply a doubt about an idea contained in the readings, you make that the basis of your critical question in Part B. Another student might answer your question there.

Q-1: Which idea(s) or claim(s) expressed in the readings (and viewing) did you find the most surprising or unexpected? Summarize that idea, claim or piece of information. Explain why you found it meaningful. Does it clarify something important in your mind? If so, what? Does it change something important in your thinking? If so, again what?

200 words minimum. State your word count.

 NOTE: In answering the question in Part A, you must strive to demonstrate that you reflected on the meaning of the readings and viewing. There is no right or wrong answer. There are only answers demonstrating shallow and perfunctory or serious and deep reflections on the material. We want to see the latter.

Your Part A answer is graded 50% for thoughtful content and 50% for good writing.

PART B TASKS in Yellowdig

See Tips for Posting in Part B in Files.

Answer ONE of the two questions raised by the instructor.

EITHER:

InsQ-1a: What is the deep story of your own social group?

Can you articulate the collective deep story of the social group you identify with? Is it the same at the one identified by Hochschild? If not, what social group do you identify with? Which social identity is most meaningful to you? And what is the deep story of that social group? What does this “deep story” say about politics? About other groups? About the role and impact of government? About the nature of freedom and justice?

OR

InsQ-1b: Are Stenner and Haidt correct in arguing that under the label “conservatism” in American politics, there are three distinct sets of attitudes or beliefs: (1) authoritarians’ psychological needs for “oneness and sameness;” (2) status quo conservatism; (3) the individualism of classical liberalism?

Are they also correct, in claiming that the main force behind Trumpism, Brexit, and the French Front National is a psychological need for oneness and sameness in a context where oneness and sameness is being undermined by cultural change (changing gender roles and fluid gender identities) and demographic change (growing presence and social visibility of minorities and immigrants)?