1. In Citizen Politics, James David Barber writes about the purpose of party identification: "In the first place, a citizen's party identification places himself in a category along with political phenomena. Unlike other categories by which a citizen tries of make sense of the political environment, party identification links him with politics in a direct and personal way. A second feature of the party identification model is its specialization. Party identification refers to a narrow slice of a citizen's life. When he needs it -- that is, when he needs to make a political decision -- party identification is there for him to call upon." Here you have a special model of political cognition. In view of what is known about perception, cognition, attitudes, and attitude systems, what evidence, if any, leads you to believe that this model of political cognition is correct? What evidence, if any, leads you to believe this model of political cognition is incorrect?

This question has two basic elements: the quote from some assigned reading, and the reference to "what is known about perception, cognition, attitudes, and attitude systems" which came from lecture material. Essentially, the question asked the students to evaluate some reading in light of a somewhat different approach that had been followed in class. In order to make this comparison, a student had to know both the reading and the lecture material relatively well.

2. There has been a controversy over the invitation to Barbara Bush to speak at Wellesley's 1990 commencement. One hundred and fifty students objected that this was "to honor a woman who has gained recognition through the achievements of her husband." The essence of their protest revolved around ascribed status vs. achieved status. Elizabeth Drew (herself a Wellesley graduate and former commencement speaker) wrote their objection overlooked Mrs. Bush's "phenomenal success in her chosen role[s]. She has raised . .. five attractive children, . . . held the family together through [many] household moves, . . . [and] has come through the bruising world of politics . . . whole, healthy, natural and with sense of humor intact." Write an essay discussing the conflicts between one of Mrs. Bush's roles, and one of the roles to which the Wellesley graduates aspire. In your essay, use as much of the formal language of role theory as possible.

This question asked the students to use concepts they had learned in class (in this case role concepts) to analyze a real world controversy. The challenge was whether they knew the concepts well enough to apply them to a relatively unfamiliar set of facts.

3. In their article, "Why Men Obey," Simon, Smithburg and Thompson point to four bases of power: confidence, identification, legitimacy, and sanctions. Use concepts from other portions of the course (i.e. non-power concepts) to explain why each of these bases of power is effective.

This question asks for a theoretical translation, to take concepts used in a theory of power, and explain them in a different theoretical language. The ability to do so depends on how well one understands the power concepts, and whether one has a sufficient command of other theories to be able to pick out non-power ways of understanding these concepts.

4. It is difficult to interpret changes in opinion by simply comparing marginal results. One can begin to see more of what has happened by means of bivariate analysis. For example, our study shows these relationships between one's view on policy in Vietnam and party identification.