Thinking about Political Psychology

A discussion and debate of the major issues facing the field of political psychology, first published in 2002.

Some of the leading scholars in political psychology discuss and debate some of the major issues in the field. Scholars define the boundaries of the field, debate its relevance, consider whether the field is, methodologically, too individualistic and consider whether the field can help scholars to understand collective public opinion.In this 2002 volume, political psychologists take a hard look at political psychology. They pose and then address, the kinds of tough questions that those outside the field would be inclined to ask and those inside should be able to answer satisfactorily. Not everyone will agree with the answers the authors provide and in some cases, the best an author can do is offer well-grounded speculations. Nonetheless, the chapters raise questions that will lead to an improved political psychology and will generate further discussion and research in the field. The individual chapters are organised around four themes. Part I tries to define political psychology and provides an overview of the field. Part II raises questions about theory and empirical methods in political psychology. Part III contains arguments ranging from the position that the field is too heavily psychological to the view that it is not psychological enough. Part IV considers how political psychologists might best connect individual-level mental processes to aggregate outcomes.