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Prof. Matthew A. Baum
Office: T244
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: MW 1:30-2:30, or by appointment
Fall 2009
MW 11:40-1 p.m.
Location: T301
Phone: 495-1291
DPI-608
Political Communication
Syllabus
Overview: This course considers the degree to which Americans' political opinions and actions are
influenced by the mass media, particularly television, as well as the influence of the mass media on
public policy. Topics to be covered include the history of the mass media, recent trends in the news
media, theories of attitude formation and change, the nature of news, the ways in which the news
shapes the public's perceptions of the political world, campaign communication, how the media and
public opinion affect the manner in which public officials govern, and the general role of the mass
media in the democratic process.
Requirements:
(1) Term paper. There will be one paper (approximately 13-15 pages, double spaced), based on a
topic covered in the course. The paper counts for 40% of the final grade and will be due at the
last meeting of the class.
(2) Group project. For the group project, teams of students will prepare a proposal, in the form of
a policy briefing, for reforming some aspect of the conduct of political campaigns in America.
At the end of the semester, each team will submit their proposal, in writing, and then present a
summary (approximately 30 minutes) to the class, followed by a Q&A session. The group
project will count for 35% of the final grade.
(3) Participation. There are two elements to the participation grade. First, for each class meeting,
1-2 students will be asked to find a newspaper or news magazine article that relates to one or
more of the theoretical perspectives addressed in the pertinent lecture or readings. The
student(s) will summarize the story (verbally) and explain how it relates to the theoretical
concepts we are addressing in the course. This will be followed by a class discussion. Second,
participation in class discussions will also count toward the overall participation grade.
Together, these two elements count for 25% of the final grade.
Readings: All readings are available online, included in a course reader, or both.
I. Course Overview (September 2)
II. Introduction to the Mass Media
A. Historical Development (September 9)
Readings:
- Davis, Richard. 2001. The Press and American Politics, 3rd Edition. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall. Chs. 2-3, pp. 25-86.
Discussion Topic: What, if any, lessons do the eras of the partisan press and/or yellow
journalism hold for contemporary politics and political communication? Are there any
parallels that, in your view, would help us to understand what to expect in the future?
B. Economics: technology, regulation and competition (September 14)
Readings:
- Baum, Matthew A. and Sam Kernell. 1999. Has Cable Ended the Golden
Age of Presidential Television? American Political Science Review 93
(March): 99-114.
- Aufderheide, Patricia. 2000. “Communications Policy and the Public
Interest,” in Doris A. Graber, editor, Media Power in Politics, 4th Edition.
Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press. Ch. 31. pp. 351-362.
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Hamilton, James T. 2003 All the News That’s Fit to Sell: How the Market
Transforms Information into News. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Chapter 1 (“Economic Theories of News”) and Chapter 9 (“Content,
Consequences, and Policy Choices”).
Popkin, Samuel L., "Changing Media, Changing Politics", Perspectives on
Politics, 4(2), (New York: Cambridge University Press, © 2006), pp. 327341.
Crowley, Michael. 2004. “Shadow Warriors.” New York Magazine (June 28).
(http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/politics/columns/nationalinterest/
9372/)
Meyer, Philip. 2004. “Saving Journalism: How to Nurse the Good Stuff Until it
Pays.” Columbia Journalism Review (June).
(http://www.cjr.org/issues/2004/6/ideas-essay-meyer.asp)
Discussion Topic: Is news a “public good” or a commodity, whose content is driven by
market considerations? Can it be both? How should news be treated by society? Can
public be induced to consume more, and more serious, political news? Should it be?
C. A new news paradigm? (September 16 and 21)
Readings:
- Prior, Markus. 2003. “Any Good News in Soft News? The Impact of Soft
News Preference on Political Knowledge.” Political Communication
20(April/June): 149-171.
- Baum, Matthew A. “Soft News and Political Knowledge: Evidence of
Absence or Absence of Evidence?” 2003. Political Communication 20
(April/June): 173-190.
- Baumgartner, Jody and Jonathan S. Morris. 2006. “The Daily Show
Effect: Candidate Evaluations, Efficacy, and American Youth.” American
Politics Research 34(3): 341-67.
- Fisher, Marc. 2002. "The Metamorphosis," American Journalism Review
(November).
- Hindman, Matthew. 2007. “Political Accountability and the Web’s
‘Missing Middle’”. Paper presented at the Princeton Conference on
Changing Media and Political Accountability, November 30-December 1,
Princeton, NJ.
- Smolkin, Rachel. 2004. The Expanding Blogosphere. American Journalism
Review (June/July) (http://www.ajr.org/article_printable.asp?id=3682).
Discussion Topic: Is the blending of news and entertainment good or bad for
democracy? What effects is this trend likely to have on politics and public policy?
III. Mass Media and Public Opinion
A. The Debate over Public Competence (September 23)
Readings:
- Glynn, Carroll J., Susan Herbst, Garrett J. O’Keefe and Robert Y. Shapiro.
1999. Public Opinion. Boulder: Westview Press. Ch. 8, “Public Opinion
and Democratic Competence,” pp. 249-298.
Discussion Topic: What are the requirements for citizenship in a republican democracy?
How much information do citizens need to fulfill their democratic responsibilities?
B. Media Effects (September 28, 30 & October 5)
Readings:
- Ansolabahere, Stephen, Roy Behr and Shanto Iyengar. 1993. The Media
Game. New York: MacMillan Publishing. Chs. 6-7, pp. 129-156.
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- Druckman, James N. 2000. “The Power of Television Images: The First
Kennedy-Nixon Debate Revisited.” Journal of Politics 65(May): 559-71.
- Schudson, Michael. 2000. “Trout or Hamburger: Politics and
Telemythology.” in Doris A. Graber, editor, Media Power in Politics, 4th
Edition. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press. Ch. 17, pp.
196-203.
- Iyengar, Shanto and Adam F. Simon. 2000. “New Perspectives and
Evidence on Political Communication and Campaign Effects.” Annual
Review of Psychology 51: 149-169.
Discussion Topic: Based on your own understanding of what “democracy”, means, does
the U.S. have a “real” democracy or do we have only the illusion of democracy, with
voters manipulated to support whatever policies and candidates media and political
elites favor?
IV. Media, Public Opinion and Politics
A. How the Media Cover Politics (October 7 & 14)
Readings:
- Davis, Richard. 2001. The Press and American Politics, 3rd Edition. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall. Chs. 12-13, pp. 202-252.
- Hallin, Daniel C. 1991. “Whose Campaign is it, Anyway?” Columbia
Journalism Review (January/February).
- Patterson, Thomas. 1996. “Bad News, Period.” PS: Political Science and
Politics 29 (March): 17-20.
- Druckman, James N., Martin J. Kifer, and Michael Parkin. 2007. “The
Technological Development of Congressional Candidate Websites: How
and Why Candidates Use Web Innovations.” Paper presented at the
Princeton Conference on Changing Media and Political Accountability,
November 30-December 1, Princeton, NJ.
- Smith, Terrence. 1999. “Courting the Cameras” The Newshour with Jim Lehrer
(August 6). (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/july-dec99/cameras_86.html)
Discussion Topic: How should politics and elections be covered? How well do the media
measure up to this standard? What would you anticipate would be the practical beneficial effect
political coverage along the lines you suggest?
B. Media Bias (October 19)
Readings:
- Groeling, Tim and Samuel Kernell. 1998. “Is Network News Coverage of
the President Biased?” Journal of Politics 60 (November): 1064-1086.
- Baum, Matthew A. and Phil Gussin. 2008. “In the Eye of the Beholder:
How Information Shortcuts Shape Individual Perceptions of Bias in the
Media.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 3:1: 1-31.
- Groseclose, Tim and Milyo, Jeff “A Measure of Media Bias.” Quarterly
Journal of Economics 120(November): 1191-1237.
- Martin Gilens and Craig Hertzman. "Corporate Ownership and News
Bias: Newspaper Coverage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act."
Journal of Politics 62(May): 369-386.
- Cunningham, Brent. 2003. “Re-thinking Objectivity.” Columbia Journalism
Review (July/August). (http://www.cjr.org/year/03/4/cunningham.asp)
Discussion Topic: Do you believe the media are biased? If so, how? Is this “good” or
“bad” for politics and democracy? How do you know bias when you see it? What are the
implications for political discourse in America of citizen perceptions of bias in the
media?
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C. Campaign Advertising & Political Participation (October 21 & 26)
Readings:
- West, Darrell M. 2001 Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election
Campaigns, 1952-2000. Third Edition. Washington D.C.: CQ Press. Ch. 3,
pp. 43-72.
- Cappella, Joseph N. and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. 1997. A Spiral of
Cynicism: The Press and the Public Good. New York: Oxford University
Press, pp. 3-37.
- Gilens, Martin, Lynn Vavreck and Martin Cohen. 2007. Mass Media and
Public Perceptions of Presidential Candidates, 1952-2000. Journal of
Politics 60(November): 1160-1175.
Discussion Topic: What steps, if any, can/should be taken to increase citizen
participation in politics?
Guest Lecturer: Nicco Mele (October 28). Topic TBD
D. Gauging Public Opinion (November 2)
Readings:
- McGraw, Kathleen M. 2002. “Manipulating Public Opinion.” In
Norrander, Barbara and Clyde Wilcox, editors, Understanding Public
Opinion. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, pp. 265-280.
- Kegay, Michael R. 1999. “Public Opinion and Polling During Presidential
Scandal and Impeachment,” Public Opinion Quarterly 63: 449-463, 1999.
Discussion Topic: How can we improve the use of public opinion polls in the news media
in order to (a) help political leaders better understand what the public thinks and wants,
and (b) help the public, as well as leaders, better understand what the polls can and
cannot tell us about public attitudes?
V. Media, Public Opinion and Public Policy
A. Influencing Public Policy (November 4)
Readings:
- Glynn, Carroll J., et al. 1999. Public Opinion. Ch. 9 “Public Opinion and
Policymaking,” pp. 299-340.
Discussion Topic: How much influence do you think public opinion has on public policy?
How much “should” it have?
B. Case study: The CNN Effect & Operation Restore Hope (November 9)
Readings:
- Sharkey, Jacqueline. 1993. "When Pictures Drive Foreign Policy,"
American Journalism Review 15, No. 10 (December).
- Mermin, Jonathan. 1999. Debating War and Peace. Princeton: Princeton
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University Press. Chapter 6, pp. 120-142.
Baum, Matthew A. and Phil Potter. 2008. “The Relationship Between
Mass Media, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Toward a Theoretical
Synthesis” 2008. Annual Review of Political Science (Forthcoming).
C. Case study: Media, Public Opinion, and Iraq (November 16 & 18)
- Jacobson, Gary C. 2006. “Public Opinion and the War in Iraq.” Paper
presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 30th-September 3, 2006.
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Berinsky, Adam J. and James N. Druckman. 2007. Public Opinion
Research and Support for the Iraq War. Public Opinion Quarterly
71(Spring): 126-141.
Discussion Topic: Is media influence on politics or foreign policy “good” or “bad” for
democracy? Why?
VI. Group Presentations (November 23, 25, 30 & December 2)
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