Sept 9: Introduction to political psychology

Sept 14: Comparing a good and a bad leader

Shakespeare, W. Richard II. (Read the play before class. Be prepared to discuss differences between Richard, a failed leader, and Bolingbroke, a successful leader who replaced him.)

Sept 16: Prologue to the study of leadership: Gender, power, and politics

MacKinnon, C. A. (1983). Desire and power (pp. 48-62 only). In Feminism unmodified: Discourses on life and law, pp. 46-62. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) (CP)

MacKinnon, C. A. (1984). Difference and dominance. In Feminism unmodified: Discourses on life and law, pp. 32-45. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) (CP)

Sept 21: Models of leaders, followers, and groups: Psychoanalysis and ego psychology

Freud, S. (1921). Group psychology and the analysis of the ego, chapters 1-2, 5-8, 11.

View Freud's Model of the Fundamental Dimensions of Social Organization

Erikson, E. H. (1950/1963). The legend of Hitler's childhood. In Childhood and society, 2nd ed., pp. 326-358. (New York: Norton) (WEB)

View Erikson's Concept of Identity

 Sept 23: Charisma and other bases of leadership: Theory

Weber, M. (1922/1968). The types of legitimate domination. In Economy and society, pp. 212-221, 226-227, 241-249, 262-264. (New York: Bedminster Press) (CP)

 Sept 28: Showing of extracts from the movie, "Triumph of the Will"

This 1934 "documentary" film is a classic of political propaganda, intended to establish a positive image of the Nazi party in general and the charismatic qualities of Adolf Hitler in particular. (At the time, Hitler had been in power for about a year and a half; just a few months earlier he had purged and murdered several of his earliest S.A. [Sturmabteilung, or "brownshirts"] supporters.)

What verbal and nonverbal features of the film seem to reflect Hitler's presumed (at least from the Nazi perspective) charisma? How can charisma be "constructed" by the media? In sections this week, we will be discussing how Weber's abstract points about charisma are expressed in concrete film images and cinematography techniques will be discussed in this week's sections. There is no additional reading for today, but come to section prepared to discuss the film.

 Sept 30: Research on the leadership process

3D Representation of Power, Achieveent, and Affiliation Motives

Winter study: Model of Behaviors Demonstrated by "Superior" Navy Officers

Table: Motives and Performance Among US Presidents

House, R. J., Spangler, W. D., & Woycke, J. (1991). Personality and charisma in the U.S. presidency: A psychological theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 364-396. (WEB)

Smircich, L., & Morgan, G. (1982). Leadership: The management of meaning. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 18, 257-273. (CP)

 Oct 5: Is leadership nothing more than social class position?

Social Classes according to Marx and Modern sociology

Domhoff's Argument

The Electoral-Political Game

Strodtbeck, F. L., James, R. M., & Hawkins, C. (1958). Social status in jury deliberations. In: E. Maccoby, T. Newcomb, & E. Hartley, Readings in social psychology, 3rd ed., pp. 379-388. (New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston) (CP)

Domhoff, G. W. (1987). Where do government experts come from? The CEA and the policy-planning network. In G. W. Domhoff & T. R. Dye (Eds.), Power elites and organizations, pp., 189-200. (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage) (CP)

 

 

Oct 7: The effects of power on the target (victimization) and the powerholder (vulnerabilities to flattery and stress)

Hegemony and the "Hegemonic Line"

Janoff-Bulman, R. (1985). The aftermath of victimization: Rebuilding shattered assumptions. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Trauma and its wake, vol. 1, pp. 15-35. (WEB)

McClelland, D. C. (1982). The need for power, sympathetic activation, and illness. Motivation and Emotion, 6, 31-41. (CP)

McClelland's Model of Power Motivation, Stress, and Illness

Oct 12: Comparing crises: The World War that happened (1914) and the World War that didn't happen (the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962)

Bethmann-Hollweg, T. von (1921). Reflections on the World War, pp. 101-107, 129-148. (CP)

Grey, Sir E. (1924) Twenty-five years, 1892-1916, Vol. 1, pp. 314-322; Vol. 2, pp. 9-16, 35-40. (CP)

Speech by President Kennedy and letters exchanged between Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis. (CP)

If you have web access with "RealPlayer," you can listen to Kennedy's 10/22/62 speech - arguably the most frightening moment of the Cold War - at the following URL: www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/j102262.htm

Oct 14: Motivational factors in war

Lecture slides from various studies

Rank. O. (1914). Conquering cities and "conquering" women. Internationale Zeitschrift für ärztliche Psychoanalyse, 2, 50-58. (CP)

Winter, D. G. (1993). Power, affiliation and war: Three tests of a motivational model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 532-545. (CP)

Oct 19: Perception, misperception and war

White, R. K. (1970). Nobody wanted war: Misperception in Vietnam and other wars, pp. 3-32. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. (WEB)

Winter, D. G. (1987). Enhancement of enemy's power motivation a dynamic of conflict escalation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 41-46. (CP)

Motive Distortion In the Media

 A Motivational-Perceptual Model of the Conflict Escalation Process

Oct 21: Are there alternatives to power and war?

Schmookler, A. (1983). Selection for the ways of power in social evolution. In R. K. White (Ed.), Psychology and the prevention of nuclear war, pp. 227-235. (New York: NYU Press) (WEB)

Ruddick, S. (1982/1984). Preservative love and military destruction: Some reflections on mothering and peace. In J. Trebilcot (Ed.), Mothering: Essays in feminist theory, pp. 231-262. (Totowa, NJ: Rowham & Allanheld) (WEB)

Ruddick's Argument: "praxis"

King, M. L., Jr. (1963/1986). "Letter from Birmingham city jail," and "I have a dream." In J. M. Washington (Ed.), A testament of hope: The essential writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., pp. 289-302, 217-220. (San Francisco: Harper & Row) (CP)

Oct 26: HOUR EXAM

Oct 28: Psychobiography and the objective measurement of personality at a distance

Runyan, W. McK. (1981). Why did Van Gogh cut off his ear? The problem of alternative explanations in psychobiography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 1070-1077. (CP)

Winter, D. G. (1998). A motivational analysis of the Clinton first term and the 1996 presidential campaign. Leadership Quarterly, 9, 253-262. (CP)

Suedfeld, P., & Rank, A. D. (1976). Revolutionary leaders: Long-term success as a function of changes in conceptual complexity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 169-178. (CP)

Correlates of Motive Scores

 Nov 2: National character and ways of measuring it

Bellak, L. (1990, April 25). Why I fear the Germans. New York Times. (CP)

McClelland, D. C. (1961). The achieving society, pp. 63-75, 89-103. (Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand) (WEB)

Veroff, J., Depner, C., Kulka, R., & Douvan, E. (1980). Comparison of American motives: 1957 versus 1976. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 1249-1262. (CP)

Hofstede, G. (1983). National cultures revisited. Behavior Science Research, 18, 285-305. (WEB)

Note: The coursepack contains stories from elementary school readers from the United States and Russia. These will be used for an assignment and discussion in this week's sections.

Nov 4: Political socialization

Jennings, M. K., & Niemi, R. G. (1968). The transmission of political values from parent to child. American Political Science Review, 62, 169-184. (CP)

Voting Choice as a Function of Parents' Voting (duh.)

Adelson, J. (1972). The political imagination of the young adolescent. In J. Kagan & R. Coles (Eds.), Twelve to sixteen: Early adolescence, pp. 106-143. (New York: Norton) (WEB)

Stages of psychological and political development (2 charts)

Nov 9: The concept of political "generations"

Duncan, L. E., & Agronick, G. S. (1995). The intersection of life stage and social events: Personality and life outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 558-568. (CP)

Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (1991). America's 13th generation. New York Times. (CP)

Stuart's Generalization of Mannheim's Argument

Nov 11: Ideology: the organization of political beliefs

Doty, R. M., Peterson, B. E., & Winter, D. G. (1991). Threat and authoritarianism in the United States, 1978-1987. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 629-640. (CP)

Duncan, L. E., Peterson, B. E., & Winter, D. G. (1997). Authoritarianism and gender roles: Toward a psychological analysis of hegemonic relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 41-49. (CP)

Dynamics of Authoritarianism

Inglehart, R. (1981). Postmaterialism in an environment of insecurity. American Political Science Review, 75, 880-900. (CP)

Nov 16: Linking the personal and the political: Mobilization, voting, participation, and political schema

Stewart, A. J., & Healy, J. M., Jr. (1986). The role of personality development and experience in shaping political commitment: An illustrative case. Journal of Social Issues, 42(2), 11-32. (WEB)

Vera Brittain's political values and activity

Kinder, D. R., Adams, G. S., & Gronke, P. W. (1989). Economics and politics in the 1984 American presidential election. American Journal of Political Science, 33, 491-515. (CP)

Lecture Chart on Kinder

Cole, E. R., & Stewart, A. J. (1996). Meanings of political participation among Black and White women: Political identity and social responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 130-140. (CP)

 

Nov 18: Psychology and the making of public policy: What did welfare reform "do," and why did it happen?

Edelman, P. (1997, March). The worst thing Bill Clinton has done. The Atlantic Monthly. Available on the web at this URL:

Smolensky, E., Evenhouse, E., & Reilly, S. (1997). Welfare reform: A primer in 12 questions, parts 1-4 only. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California. Available on the web at this URL: www.ppic.org/publications/PPIC107/index.html

Nov 23: Political cognition and the mass media

Iyengar, S. (1987). Television news and citizens' explanations of national affairs. American Political Science Review, 81, 815-831. (CP)

Blankenship, J., & Kang, J. G. (1991). The 1984 presidential and vice presidential debates: The printed press and "construction" by metaphor. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 21, 307-318. (CP)

Cohn, C. (1991). The language of the Gulf War. Center for Psychological Studies in the Nuclear Age Review, 5(2), 1, 14-15. (CP)

Nov 30: Nationalism: Ethnicity, ethnic solidarity, ethnic cleansing

Moynihan, D. P. (1993). Pandaemonium, pp. 27-62. (CP)

Machiavelli, N. (1513/1955). An exhortation to liberate Italy from the barbarians. Available on the web at this URL:

Michelet, J. (1890/1955). On the unity of the Fatherland. In H. Kohn (Ed.), Nationalism: Its meaning and history (pp. 97-102). (WEB)

Tajfel, H. (1970). Experiments in intergroup discrimination. Scientific American, 223(5), 96-102. (WEB)

Dec 2: Envy, justice, rebellion, and terrorism

Crosby, F. (1982). The theory of relative deprivation. In Relative deprivation and the working woman, pp. 16-33. (New York: Oxford University Press). (CP)

Crosby's Model of Relative Deprivation

Laqueur, W., & Alexander, Y. (Eds.), Selections from The terrorism reader (New York: NAL Penguin, 1987): (CP)

Winter's Terrorism Model

K. Heinzen, Murder, pp. 53-64

S. Nechaev, Catechism of the revolutionary, pp. 68-72

N. Morozov, The terrorist struggle, pp. 72-78

P. Kropotkin, The spirit of revolt. Available on the web at this URL:

Dec 7: Psychological perspectives on what is happening in the world

Barber, B. R. (1992, March). Jihad vs. McWorld. The Atlantic Monthly, pp. 53-55, 58-61. Available on the web at this URL:

Thurow, L. (1996, April 4). Speech to the National Press Club. (CP)

Eaton, R. J. (1996, March 18). Speech to the Economic Club of Detroit. (CP)

Ricks, T. E. (1997, July). The widening gap between the military and society. The Atlantic Monthly, pp. 66-70, 72-74, 76-78. Available on the web at this URL:

Dec. 9: Politics as the art of the (im)possible

Weber, M. (1948). Politics as a vocation (selection). In H. H. Gerth & C. W. Mills (Eds.), From Max Weber: Essays in sociology (pp. 115-128). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Available on the web at this URL:

Use the "find" command to locate the sentence beginning with the words: "Now then, what inner enjoyments can this career offer" [about 70% through]; the assigned excerpt is from there to the end.

Selections from R. K. White, (Ed.) Psychology and the prevention of nuclear war. (New York: NYU Press): (WEB)

Fisher, R. & Urey, W. Principled negotiation, pp. 479-489

Rubin, J. Some roles and functions of a mediator, pp. 490-507

 

 

Dec 15: FINAL EXAM, 1:30--3:30 P.M.