Political Science Lecture: Culture War and Public Opinion by Dr. Christopher Cochrane

Dr. Christopher Cochrane, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, will deliver the Annual Political Science Lecture on “Culture War and Public Opinion” on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 at 4 pm in the Ted Daigle Auditorium, Edmund Casey Hall.

The 2016 presidential election brought to the surface of U.S. politics a reality that was well known to close observers for some time: Americans of different political stripes believe different things, harbor different values, and dislike each other much more than they used to. On key measures, American politics has not been this polarized since the Civil War. Under the microscope of U.S. media coverage, the political trends in the United States seem unusual. But are they? This talk will position American and Canadian politics in an analysis of the origins and changing nature of political disagreement in Western democratic countries.

Dr. Cochrane studies mass/elite and left/right differences in the structure of political preferences, as well as the consequences of these differences for party competition in Canada and other democratic countries. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto, Master of Arts degree (Political Science) from McGill, and a Bachelor’s of Arts degree (History and Political Science) from St. Thomas University. He is the author of Left and Right: The Small World of Political Ideas and co-author Canadian Politics: Critical Approaches. He has been awarded research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Connaught Fellowship, and Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy.

Dr. Cochrane currently teaches courses at the University of Toronto on the Government of Canada, Canadian Politics and Government, Political Disagreement in Canada.