Understanding Political Behaviour: Theory and Practice

Political behaviour examines how individuals engage with and within the political realm. It includes how citizens form political attitudes, participate in democratic processes, and how such actions influence political outcomes. Key questions include: What determines the political attitudes and values of citizens? How are political attitudes structured, and how do they vary across groups and over time? Do recent developments in citizens’ political values threaten the foundation of liberal democracies?

The course addresses topics such as immigration, climate change, economic policy, health, gender equality, international trade, and security. It also explores how these topics intersect with broader trends including political polarization, challenges to democratic norms, and increasing social and economic inequalities. 

This course’s main objective is to introduce students to key debates in the field of political behaviour, combining foundational theoretical approaches and latest research on emerging trends. Emphasis is placed on comparative perspectives, drawing on examples from a range of geographic contexts to highlight cross-national similarities and differences in political behaviour. Another main objective is to allow students to engage with the literature and to approach research questions in political behaviour using fundamental statistical methods in practical settings. Particular emphasis will be placed on the use of public opinion data.

A student who has completed the course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence: 

Knowledge 

The student...

• can account for major debates and complementary theories on the drivers of political behaviour  
• can describe the development within political behavioural research over time 
• knows current debates on emerging topics in political behaviour 
• can identify and present debates around the thematic focus addressed in the course in a critical manner  

Skills 

The student can...

• identify, synthesize and engage critically with existing research in the field of political behaviour 
• develop and apply their own analytical approach to the study of political behaviour 
• structure and conduct empirical analysis to address research questions related to political behaviour 

General competence 

The student can...

• develop, present, discuss and defend own arguments about scholarly readings and empirical phenomena in dialogue with peers 
• interpret and evaluate the implications of political behaviour research for democratic governance and policymaking 
• communicate research findings and theoretical perspectives clearly and effectively in both written and spoken formats