Citizen Politics in America: Public Opinion, Elections, Interest Groups, and the Media
2-4 hours per week • Start today
Individual Course
Course Length
5 weeks
2-4 hours per week
Featuring faculty from:
Harvard Kennedy School
Enroll as Individual
Certificate Price:
$ 149
Enroll as Individual
Certificate Price:
$ 149
How is power shared among the Congress, president, and the Supreme Court?
How do the three branches of government operate? How is power shared among Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court? What role is played by federal agencies that have no direct constitutional authority of their own?
In this part of our series on American Government, we will examine the separation of powers among the three branches of government, and the role of voters, political parties, and the broader federal bureaucracy. We’ll explore how “the people” affect the behavior of members of Congress, what constitutes success in a president’s domestic and foreign policies, and how much power an unelected judiciary should have in a democratic system.
Self-Guided
edX
Understand how Congress members are influenced by their constituencies
Understand what causes political polarization between Republicans and Democrats
Learn how executive orders expand the powers of the presidency
What you'll learn
Your Instructor
Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Thomas E. Patterson is Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is author of the book Informing the News: The Need for Knowledge-Based Journalism , published in October 2013. His earlier book, The Vanishing Voter , looks at the causes and consequences of electoral participation, and his book on the media’s political role, Out of Order , received the American Political Science Association’s Graber Award as the best book of the decade in political communication. His first book, The Unseeing Eye , was named by the American Association for Public Opinion Research as one of the 50 most influential books on public opinion in the past half century. He is also the author of the award winning Mass Media Election (1980), and a general American government text, We the People , now in the 11th edition. His articles have appeared in Political Communication , Journal of Communication , and other academic journals, as well as in the popular press. His research has been funded by the Ford, Markle, Smith-Richardson, Pew, Knight, Carnegie, and National Science foundations. Patterson received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1971.
These courses can be bundled together to receive a professional certificate at a discounted price.
Learn More2-4 hours per week • Start today
2–4 hours per week • Start today
2-4 hours per week • Start today
Ways to take this course
A Verified Certificate costs $149 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.
Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.
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