The goal of a reading review is to summarize and critically engagewith that week’s readings.
First, you should briefly summarize the main points of each reading: what is being argued and why?
Next, consider the strengths and weaknesses of each paper. Do you find these papers convincing? Do
the arguments from each of the papers support or contradict each other? Which do you find more
persuasive, and why? Finally, you should discuss whether/how the research makes you think differently
about the political world, and what it means for our understanding of democracy.
I strongly encourage you to assess each paper on its own terms – for example, it’s usually not productive
to criticize a paper for not answering the question you wish they were writing about. Consider what the
author is setting out to find – do they answer their research question, or are they making claims beyond
the evidence they uncover?
discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each paper from a theoretical and/or methodological perspective in a bit more detail. Did the authors make any assumptions you found either problematic or maybe just a bit heroic? Did they do the study in a convincing way? Did the over-generalize the findings? Thinking a bit more about the theory and research design will help you go deeper into the analysis.
Artcles that must be reviewed and included in paper:
Taber, Charles S., and Milton Lodge. 2006. “Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs.”
American Journal of Political Science 50 (3): 755–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00214.x.
Miller, Joanne M., Kyle L. Saunders, and Christina E. Farhart. 2016. “Conspiracy Endorsement as
Motivated Reasoning: The Moderating Roles of Political Knowledge and Trust.” American Journal of
Political Science 60 (4): 824–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12234
Uscinski, Joseph E., Adam M. Enders, Casey Klofstad, Michelle Seelig, John Funchion, Caleb Everett,
Stefan Wuchty, Kamal Premaratne, and Manohar Murthi. 2020. “Why Do People Believe COVID-19
Conspiracy Theories?” Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review 1 (3).
https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-015.
