After the Progressive Era, citizenship became to be defined as individual citizens making vote judgments based on information about the public state of affairs and their own individual preferences. As such, the definition presumes that citizens can be informed about public issues and can form rational judgments. At the same time, given the great distance from events common for most citizens, voters would have to rely on outside sources of information, whether from the media, political parties, special interests, or political elites. Who would win in the ensuing struggle to determine public opinion? The focus of this course is the role of public opinion in democracy. How do events and crises influence the formation of and change of public opinion? When and under what conditions can pressure groups and the mass media influence the formation of public opinion on current domestic and international issues? Can public opinion influence individual voter's choices? What strengthens or weakens public opinion's influence on political leaders? Each student selects an area of public opinion of particular interest (e.g., racial attitudes, abortion, foreign policy, changing ideological beliefs, equality) to analyze what is known about public opinion in that area. Requirements: midterm exam, final exam, and a project report. Enrollment limit: 39. American Politics Subfield