Lecture/Seminar Titles:
Details of each lecture/seminar are accompanied with their own reading lists. Aside from these lists, students are strongly encouraged to purchase or loan the following essential readings:
(1) Russell J. Dalton (2008) Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 5th edition, Washington: CQ Press
(2) David Denver (2003) Elections and Voters in Britain, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan
(3) Russell J. Dalton and Hans Dieter Klingemann (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
I have forwarded details of these three books to the library and Blackwell’s who should have them in stock.
In turn, the lists are divided into essential reading and further reading. The reading lists should also be used to inform essays and exam revision. You are expected to have read two items of essential reading for each class and you are strongly encouraged to undertake further readings from the recommended list.
The weekly lecture/seminar titles are as follows:
Week 1) Introduction to the module/political behaviour
This week we will discuss the module, key requirements and expectations and provide a broad overview of political behaviour.
Essential reading:
Dalton, Russell J. (2008) Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 5th Edition, CQ Press [Chapter 1 - Introduction]
Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans Dieter (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 1]
Hay, Colin (2002) Political Analysis, Palgrave Macmillan [Chapter 1]
Norris, Pippa (2002) Democratic Phoenix: Reinventing Political Activism, Cambridge.
Cambridge University Press (Preface and Introduction)
Sanders, David (2002) ‘Behavioural Analysis’, in Marsh, David and Stoker, Gerry (eds.) Theory and Methods in Political Science, 2nd Edition, London: Macmillan [Chapter 2]
Further reading:
Dahl, Robert A. (1961) 'The Behavioral Approach in Political Science' in American Political Science Review., 55(4) [Available electronically]
Kavanagh, Dennis (1983) Political Science and Political Behaviour, Allen and Unwin [Chapter 1]
Week 2) Mass Beliefs and Value Change
This week we will take a step back and ‘set the scene’ by examining the role of mass beliefs and value change in the study of political behaviour. We shall talk about some of the classic studies in political science and broad trends that have been observed in recent decades.
Essential reading:
Dalton, Russell J. (2008) Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 5th Edition, CQ Press [Chapters 2, 5 8 or 12]
Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans Dieter (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 16]
David Denver (2003) Elections and Voters in Britain, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan [Chapter 5]
Further reading:
Almond, Gabriel and Verba, Sidney (1972) The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations, Princeton: Princeton University Press
Dalton, Russell J. (2000) ‘Citizen attitudes and political behavior’, Comparative Political Studies, 33(6-7), pp.912-940
Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans Dieter (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 22]
Inglehart, Ronald (1977) The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics, Princeton: Princeton University Press
Inglehart, Ronald and Welzel, Christian (2005) Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence, New York: Cambridge University Press.
McLaren, L. (2002) ‘Public support for the European Union: Cost/Benefit Analysis or Perceived Cultural Threat?’, Journal of Politics, 64(2), pp.551-566
Milner, Henry, (2002) Civic Literacy. How Informed Citizens Make Democracy Work,
University Press of New England
Week 3) Political participation
Why is participation in the political process considered to be positive? In what way do citizens participate in the political process? Why do some citizens participate in the political process while others do not?
Essential reading:
Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans Dieter (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 42]
Dalton, Russell J. (2008) Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 5th Edition, CQ Press [Chapters 3-4]
Bennie, Lynn G. (2004) Understanding Political Participation: Green Party Membership in Scotland, Aldershot: Ashgate [Chapter 3]
Pattie, C. J. 1962, Seyd, Patrick, Citizenship in Britain: values, participation and democracy, Cambridge University Press, 2004 [chapters 3-4]
Further reading:
Bernhagen, P. and M. Marsh (2007) ‘Voting and Protesting: Explaining Citizen Participation in Old and New European Democracies’ Democratization, 14(1), pp.44-72.
Bratton, M. (1999) ‘Political Participation in a New Democracy: Institutional Considerations from Zambia’, Comparative Political Studies, 32(5), pp.549-588
Brennan, Geoffrey and Lomasky, Loren (1994) Democracy and Decision, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Curtice, John and Seyd, Ben (2002) ‘Is there a crisis of political participation?' in Alison Park et. al., British Social Attitudes: Public Policy and Social Ties, Newburgh Park, California: Sage
Leighley, Jan E (2008) ‘Commentary on Attitudes, Opportunities and Incentives: A Field Essay on Political Participation’ Political Research Quarterly, 61 (1), pp.46-9
Parry, Geraint., Moyser, George and Day, Neil (1992) Political Participation and Democracy in Britain, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Pattie, Charles. Seyd, Patrick and Whiteley, Paul (2004) Citizenship in Britain: Values, Participation and Democracy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Teorell, Jan (2006) ‘Political participation and three theories of democracy: A research inventory and agenda’, European Journal of Political Research, 45 (5), pp.787-810.
Thomassen, Jacques (2005) ‘Introduction’, in Jacques Thomassen (ed.) The European Voter: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Verba, Sidney. Schlozman, Key and Brady, Henry (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Week 4) Electoral turnout
How do we measure electoral turnout? What are the broad trends in electoral turnout across established Western democracies? What factors affect voter turnout?
Essential reading:
Blais, André (2007) ‘Turnout in Elections’, in Russell J. Dalton and Hans-Dieter Klingemann (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 33]
Dalton, Russell J. (2008) Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 5th Edition, CQ Press [Chapters 3-4]
Denver, David (2007) Elections and Voters in Britain, 2nd Edition, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan [Chapter 2]
Clarke, Harold. Sanders, David., Steward, Marianne C. and Whiteley, Paul (2009) Performance Politics and the British Voter, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Chapter 8]
Evans, Jocelyn (2004) Voters and Voting: An Introduction, Sage [read Chapter 7 ‘Non-Voting and Abstention’]
Further reading:
Aarts, Kees and Wessels, Berhard (2005) ‘Electoral Turnout’, in Jacques Thomassen (ed.) The European Voter: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 3]
Blais, André (2006) ‘What Affects Voter Turnout’, Annual Review of Political Science, 9, pp.111-25
Blais, André and Dobrzynska, Agnieszka (1998) ‘Turnout in electoral democracies.’ European Journal of Political Research 33(2), pp. 239-261.
Clarke, Harold., Sanders, David., Steward, Marianne C. and Whiteley, Paul (2004) Political Choice in Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 7 – Chapter 8 also recommended but not essential]
Curtice, John (2005) ‘Turnout’ in Pippa Norris and Christopher Wlezien (eds.) Britain Votes 2005, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 8]
Curtice, John and Seyd, Ben (2003) ‘Is there a Crisis of Political Participation?’ in Alison Park et al. (2003) British Social Attitudes: Continuity and Change over Two Decades – the 20th Report, Sage
Evans, Geoffrey (2003) ‘Political culture and voting participation’, in Dunleavy, P., Gamble, A.,
Heffernan, R. and Peele, G. (eds.) Developments in British Politics 7, Palgrave Macmillan,
Basingstoke.
Franklin, Mark N. (2004) Voter Turnout and the Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Established Democracies since 1945, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Read: Introduction and Chapters 1, 5 and 7]
Gerber, A.S. and Green, D.P. (2000) ‘The Effects of Personal Canvassing, Telephone Calls, and Direct Mail on Voter Turnout: A Field Experiment’, American Political Science Review, 94(3), pp.653-664
Geys, Benny (2006) ‘Explaining Voter Turnout: A Review of Aggregate-Level Research’, Electoral Studies 25(4), pp.637-663
Gray, Mark and Caul, Miki (2000) ‘Declining Voter Turnout in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 1950-1997: The Effects of Declining Group Mobilization’, Comparative Political Studies 33(9), pp.1091-1122
Heath, Anthony and Taylor, Bridget (1999) 'New Forms of Abstention?' in Geoffrey Evans and Pippa Norris (eds.) Critical Elections: British Parties and Voters in Long-Term Perspective, Sage [Chapter 9]
Jackman, R.W. and Miller, R.A. (1995) ‘Voter Turnout in the Industrial Democracies during the 1980s’, Comparative Political Studies, 27(4), pp.467-92
Johnston, Ronald J. and Pattie, Charles J (2006) Putting Voters in their Place: Geography and Elections in Great Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 7]
Johnston, Ronald J. and Pattie, Charles J. (2004) ‘The growing problem of electoral turnout in Britain? Voters and non-voters at the British 2001 General Election’, Representation, 40(1), pp. 30-43
Kostadinova, T. (2003) ‘Voter Turnout Dynamics in Post-Communist Europe’, European Journal of Political Research 42(6), pp.741-59
McAllister, Ian (2001) ‘Explaining Turnout in the 2001 British General Election’, Representation 38(3), pp.256-267
Norris, Pippa (2004) Electoral Engineering: Voting Rules and Political Behavior, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Chapter 7]
Norris, Pippa (2002) Democratic Phoenix: Reinventing Political Activism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Chapters 3 and 5]
Pérez-Liñán, Aníbal (2001) ‘Neo-institutional Accounts of Voter Turnout: Moving Beyond Industrial Democracies’ Electoral Studies 20(2): 281-297.
Powell, G.B. Jnr (1986) ‘American Voter Turnout in Comparative Perspective’, American Political Science Review, 80(1), pp.17-43
Wattenberg, Martin P (2002) Where have all the voters gone? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Whiteley, Paul F. (2001) ‘Turnout and Participation’ in Pippa Norris (ed.) Britain Votes 2001, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Week 5) Theories of voting behaviour Part I
This week we turn to examine ‘classic’ models and theories that were developed to explain voting behaviour, such as socio-structural models and the early ‘Michigan’ school. We shall examine the core features of these models but also ask to what extent are these models valid today.
Essential reading:
Dalton, Russell J. (2008) Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 5th Edition, CQ Press [Chapters 8 and 9]
Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans Dieter (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapters 2 and 24]
Denver, David (2007) Elections and Voters in Britain, 2nd Edition, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan [Chapter 3]
Evans, Jocelyn (2004) Voters and Voting: An Introduction, Sage [read Chapter 3 ‘Social Structural Theories of Voting’]
Clarke, Harold. Sanders, David. Stewart, Marianne C. and Whiteley, Paul (2004) Political Choice in Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 2, pp.17-21 and Chapter 3, pp.40-50]
Further reading:
Campbell, Angus., Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren Edward (1966) The American Voter, 4th Edition, New York: Wiley [Chapters 12 and 13]
Dalton, Russell J. (2000) ‘The Decline of Party Identification’, in Russell J. Dalton and M.P. Wattenberg, Parties without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies, New York: Oxford University Press.
Evans, Jocelyn (2004) Voters and Voting: An Introduction, Sage [read Chapter 2 ‘The Historical Development of Voting Studies’]
Heath, Anthony., Jowell, Roger and Curtice, John (1985) How Britain Votes, Oxford: Pergamon
Heath, Anthony et al. (1991) Understanding Political Change: The British Voter 1964-7, London: Pergamon
Johnston, Ronald J. and Pattie, Charles J (2006) Putting Voters in their Place: Geography and Elections in Great Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 1]
Lipset, S.M. and Rokkan, S. (1990) ‘Cleavage structures, party systems and voter alignments’, in P. Mair (ed.) The West European Party System, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, pp.91-138
Oskarson, Maria (2005) ‘Social Structure and Party Choice’, in Jacques Thomassen (ed.) The European Voter: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 4]
Berglund et al. (2005) ‘Party Identification and Party Choice’, in Jacques Thomassen (ed.) The European Voter: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 5]
Week 6) Theories of voting behaviour Part II
This week we move past traditional models of voting behaviour to examine more recent models that have been developed by political scientists, such as those which emphasize the role of issues and evaluations of party performance.
Dalton, Russell J. (2008) Citizen politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 5th Edition, CQ Press [Chapter 10]
Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans Dieter (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapters 25, 27, in particular 32]
Denver, David (2007) Elections and Voters in Britain, 2nd Edition, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan [Chapters 4 and 5]
Aardal, Bernt and van Wijnen, Pieter (2005) ‘Issue Voting’, in Jacques Thomassen (ed.) The European Voter: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 8]
Clarke, Harold. Sanders, David. Stewart, Marianne C. and Whiteley, Paul (2004) Political Choice in Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press, read pp.21-37, pp.50-64
Clarke, Harold. Sanders, David. Stewart, Marianne C. and Whiteley, Paul (2009) Performance Politics and the British Voter, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.44-52
Further reading:
Aarts, Kees, S.E. MacDonald, and G. Rabinowitz (1999) ‘Issues and party competition in the Netherlands’, Comparative Political Studies, 32(1), pp.63-99
Curtice, John and Holmberg, Sören (2005) ‘Party Leaders and Party Choice’, Jacques Thomassen (ed.) The European Voter: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 10]
Evans, Jocelyn (2004) Voters and Voting: An Introduction, Sage [read Chapter 4 ‘Rational Choice Theories of Voting’]
Ford, Robert and Goodwin, Matthew J. (2010) ‘Angry White Men; Individual and Contextual Predictors of Support for the British National Party (BNP)’, Political Studies, vol.58, no.1, pp.1-25 [Available electronically and also via Dr Matthew Goodwin’s website –
Johnston, Ronald J. and Pattie, Charles J (2006) Putting Voters in their Place: Geography and Elections in Great Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapters 2 and 3]
Karp Jeff A. and Banducci, Susan A. (2002) ‘Issues and Party Competition under Alternative
Electoral Systems’ Party Politics, 8(1), pp. 123-141.
Week 7) Participating inside Parties: Activism and Membership
Despite changes in the structures of political parties members and activists remain an important tool. But at the same time recent years have seen a decline in levels of grassroots activism and membership. Is this evident across different party systems and how we can explain this downward trend?
Essential reading:
Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans Dieter (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 34]
Mair, Peter & van Biezen, Ingrid (2001) Party membership in twenty European democracies, 1980-2000, Party Politics, 7(1), pp.5-21
May, John D. (1973) ‘Opinion Structure of Political Parties: The Special Law of Curvilinear Disparity’, Political Studies 21(2), pp.135-151
Whiteley, Paul F. (2009) ‘Where have all the members gone? The dynamics of party membership in Britain’, Parliamentary Affairs, 62(2), pp.242-257
Whiteley, Paul F. and Seyd, Patrick (2002) High-Intensity Participation: The Dynamics of Party Activism in Britain, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press [Chapters 1 and 2]
Further reading:
Billordo, Libia (2003) ‘Party membership in France: Measures and data-collection’, French Politics, 1, pp.137-151 [Available electronically]
Fisher, Justin, Denver, David & Hands, Gordon (2006) Party membership and campaign activity in Britain: the impact of electoral performance, Party Politics, 12(4), pp.505-519 [Available electronically]
Gallagher, Michael & Marsh, Michael (2004) Party membership in Ireland: the members of Fine Gael, Party Politics, 10(4), pp.407-426 [Available electronically]
Goodwin, Matthew J. (2010) ‘Activism in Contemporary Extreme Right Parties: The Case of the British National Party (BNP)’, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, vol.20, no.1, pp.31-54 [Available electronically]
Norris, Pippa (2002) Democratic Phoenix: Reinventing Political Activism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Chapters 1, 2, 6, 7, Conclusions]
Norris, Pippa (1995) ‘May’s Law of Curvilinear Disparity Revisited: Leaders, Officers, Members and Voters in British Political Parties', Party politics, 1(1) [Available electronically]
Scarrow, Susan (1996) Parties and their Members: Organizing for Victory in Britain and Germany, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Seyd, Patrick & Whiteley, Paul (1992) Labour’s Grassroots: The Politics of Party Membership, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Seyd, Patrick & Whiteley, Paul (2004) British party members: an overview, Party Politics, 10(4), pp.355-366
Scarrow, Susan E. (2000) ‘Parties Without Members? Party Organization in a Changing Electoral Environment’, in Russell J. Dalton and M.P. Wattenberg, Parties without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies, New York: Oxford University Press [Chapter 5]
Teske, Nathan (1997) Political Activists in America: The Identity Construction Model of Political Participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webb, Paul and Farrell, David (1999) ‘Party Members and Ideological Change’ in Geoffrey Evans and Pippa Norris (eds.) Critical Elections: British Parties and Voters in Long-Term Perspective, Sage [Chapter 3]
Webb, Paul. Holliday, Ian. and Farrell, David (eds.)(2002) Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Societies. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Whiteley,Paul and Seyd, Patrick. (2002) New Labour’s Grassroots: The Transformation of the Labour Party Membership, Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Whiteley, Paul and Seyd, Patrick (1998) ‘The Dynamics of Party Activism in Britain: A Spiral of Demobilization’, British Journal of Political Science, 28, pp.113-137
Whiteley, Paul, Seyd, Patrick and Billinghurst, Anthony (2006) Third Force Politics: Liberal Democrats at the Grassroots, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Whiteley, Paul, Seyd, Patrick & Richardson, Jeremy (1994) True Blues: The Politics of Conservative Party Membership, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Week 8) Participating outside Parties
Not all citizens participate in political parties. Social movements, organized protests and spontaneous acts represent forms of participation outside of the ‘conventional’ political arena. How can we explain these alternative forms of participation and why participate in this way?
Essential reading:
Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans Dieter (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press [Chapter 37-39]
Norris, Pippa (2002) Democratic Phoenix: Reinventing Political Activism, Cambridge.
Cambridge University Press [Chapter 10 and 11]
Further reading:
Chong, Dennis (1991) Collective action and the civil rights movement, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Crossley, Nick (2002) Making Sense of Social Movements, Buckingham: Open University Press.