I really enjoyed this class! Tausanovitch isn't the most engaging lecturer, but the topics he covered were super interesting and you can tell he is very knowledgable about what he's talking about. Although a lot of info from the first half of class was a repeat of AP US Gov, I liked how in the second half of the class he went into different topics like voter participation, public opinion, campaigning, and political polarization, and I enjoyed how he incorporated real-world examples. Grading scheme consisted of a midterm and final exam in person, one paper, and participation in weekly discussion. Each exam had 5 multiple choice questions, 3 definition/term questions, 3-4 short answer questions, and one essay question. Exams themselves were very fair and you will do well if you paid attention in class and understand the concepts. He gives a list of all the possible terms for the definition part, so if you study those then you will likely do well on the entire exam, because all the terms relate to key concepts. I had Jessica as a TA and she was great at clarifying points made in lecture. Overall, the class is pretty easy if you put in minimal effort, and I would take a class with him again.

Not a bad class to take at all if you want to satisfy either your pre-political science major requirement or GE requirement, especially if you have interest and some knowledge about American politics. Professor Tausanovitch is also a straightforward and clear lecturer. He uses slides and is pretty passionate about what he teaches. In terms of grading, there were: Discussion Participation 20%, Midterm 20%, One Paper 20%, and Final 40%. I took AP Gov back in high school so I got through the class without doing any of the weekly readings alright. Midterms and finals were mix of multiple choices, short answers, and one long essay.

I'm selling the textbook Logic of American Politics Edition 7, :P I didn't use it at all this quarter lmfao, Text me for offers, **********.

Selling the textbook Logic of American Politics Edition 7, BRAND NEW!! Text me for offers! **********

The discussions were very interesting and I feel like I learned a lot from this class overall. Harder to study for due to the content being kind of all over the place and not very structured.

The content of this class was not difficult, but the amount of it made studying for exams challenging. The midterm and final were not easy but not too bad as long as you study a bunch and memorize most of the terms and lectures. Professor Tausanovitch's lectures were not very engaging but the slides were useful. Overall, I learned a lot in this class, but mostly through my own studying.

This is an overall good introduction to American politics and Tausonavitch is a great professor: lucid, straight to the point, inquisitive, and undogmatic. Lots of readings but you don't need to complete them in order to get an A in the class, just make sure you read the abstracts, intros, and conclusions, look at the vocab on his study guides, go to lecture, and you should be all set to go. I barely used the assigned textbook and was fine without it. However, if you want to take a deeper dive into politics, I think the articles he assigns are quite refreshing and insightful.

Professor Tausanovitch is a pretty boring lecturer. It's super hard to stay paying attention to his lectures so most of the time I felt like I didn't know what we were learning. The format of the tests reminds me of AP tests with a multiple choice section, short essays, and long essay questions. The tests are not too hard but do require a lot of studying and are worth a lot, so make sure to actually spend some time studying if you're like me and never took an AP Gov class in high school. The essay wasn't too bad but it was boring, but I thought mine was horrible yet I still got an A.
The class breakdown is as follows
Participation: 10%
Essay: 20%
Midterm: 30%
Final: 40%

This is my favorite class I've taken so far at UCLA! I thought the material was very interesting, and Mr. T does a great job lecturing and he's very funny. The tests aren't too hard as long as you show up to class and pay attention to what he's saying. As a poli sci major, I will definitely seek out some upper-division classes taught by this professor as well. 10/10 highly recommend :)

I LOVE this professor. Easily the best class I’ve taken at UCLA