From the local campaigner gathering signatures on a petition to the opposition leader delivering a rousing speech at a mass protest, political behaviour is the lifeblood of democracy. Amongst its many forms, we might be interested in how political elites vote in legislatures, what they say in their speeches or tweets, or how they campaign during elections. Or we could concern ourselves with how the public engage with politics through voting, posting content online, joining organisations, protesting, or taking direct action. Whatever the behaviour that we are most interested in, we can draw on different approaches to explaining why, how, and to what extent people get involved in politics. This class begins by considering three of those approaches: rational choice; psychological; and sociological. It also considers the range of methods that can be used to investigate political behaviour before moving onto examine a range of kinds of political behaviour. Throughout, the class will encourage students to consider whether different theories and methods are more or less applicable when accounting for elite or public behaviour, and whether we should distinguish between how those two groups act. Students will be expected to approach the class both as critical researchers and as citizens with an interest in understanding and solving problems affecting political behaviour in practice.