• VAP vs VEP
• determinants of participation
  
• determinants of changes in levels of participation
  
• Robert Putnam and social capital

• Explanations of vote choice
  • Michigan model
  • Downsian model
    
  • Role of issues in effecting voter behavior
    
    • required conditions of issue voting
      
    • evidence of issue impact in voting

• Dimensions of public perceptions of President
  
  • Patterns of presidential approval
    
  • determinants of presidential approval
    
• Public opinion of Congress
  • representatives v. institution
  • public attitudes toward government
    • Determinants of trust in government
    • institutions v. officials
    • aggregate changes in attitudes

1. What are the determinants of political participation?  What explanations have been offered to account for the decline in turnout in the United States over the last half century?

2. Compare and contrast the Michigan and Downsian Models of vote choice? What factors do each argue is important in determining how a voice choice and to what extent does empirical data support them?

3. What are the factors that influence the president's standing with the public?  How, and why, has the public's general perception of the president changed over the latter half of the 20th century?

The Final will also include an additional essay which is intended to tie together the material from the semester. Essentially, the question will involve the nature of the American electorate given the expectations of the public in democratic theory (as discussed during the first couple of weeks of the class). What you will be expected to do is examine, using specific evidence from the semester's material, how the American public's level of information and involvement meets with the expectations of democratic theory and then make a judgement as to whether this is good or bad for democracy in the United States.