Mostly boring class, even for those who are actually interested in the subject matter. A lot of the course focuses on congressional strategy, which is already pretty intuitive to those who remotely pay attention to what tends to happen with major legislation proposals (e.g., congressional moderates have all the power, filibuster and veto points severely constrain the ideological space for any given proposal, etc.). Other subjects touched upon include lobbying, fundraising, committees, procedure, public-opinion, and ideology—with an eye towards political polarization when discussing most of these matters.

Tausanovitch is clearly smart, but doesn't put a lot of thought into how he lectures—which is disappointing. Students who already know a lot about the subject can get a pretty easy A without attending the (super boring) lectures. I think this class is of about average difficulty and workload for those who are less experienced.

I like Professor Tausanovitch. Basically going to class and taking decent notes will get you through the tests. The homework assignments, which essentially weigh as an exam when considered together, are pretty easily graded. In this class you have the opportunity to get much more out of the class than what is demanded; the exams often disregard entire weeks of content - particularly the final. However, doing the readings and going to office hours will unlock a breadth of knowledge about Congress. I would take his class again, and would recommend him to others.

PS 140a with Professor Tusanovitch is a fairly easy class especially if you are a political junkie. The class initially goes over the nuts and bolts of the US legislative branch before delving into deeper theories and concepts regarding policymaking, and legislating. The lectures where clear, but they were quite dry and boring, but Professor Tusanovitch really cares if his students understand what he is talking about.

The class is broken up grade wise like such
30% Midterm
10% Section
30% Assignments
30% Final

Section is mandatory and the professor has an arcane policy stating that you have to attend the section you enrolled in despite other sections being offered. This is like other classes where TAs allow you to go to earlier or later sections if you can't make it. However you are allowed one miss.

The Assignments are two graded "short papers" with one being a research assignment on a obscure/notable congressional race and analyzing media coverage. The other project due during week 10, is an assignment looking at a legislative roll call and analyzing it using DW-Nominate. The assignments are fairly easy but if you don't conduct good research I would recommend starting early.

The exams are four section tests with a with a multiple choice section, identifications, short answers, and a short essay. The professor gives a study guide that shows which IDs are fair game. While the professor was not clear on what to focus on, the tests were fair and focus mostly on the big ideas discussed in the class. Note that the final is cumulative, and longer than the midterm, but was not that bad.

Overall if you are a poli-sci major take this class because while it may not be an easy A if but some effort you should get one. Also I found that while there were many readings, the exams didn't really test on them, and you should be find if you know the main concepts associated with them.

Professor T is very smart but really boring. You'll learn a lot because his class is comprehensive but you'll probably hear some people snoring. I'm not exaggerating, the person next to me fell asleep. He is a fair grader.

Boring and disorganized lectures. Technical difficulties in about 1/2 of the classes. Overall a waste of time. I fell dumber after taking the class!

PS 140A: CONGRESS

Selling the books required for the course, email me if interested.

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NOTE CLASS TAKEN WAS 140A: congress

The class way OKAY. It seemed pretty bland for the most part--maybe that was because it isn't the most interesting subject matter (for me at least). His exams cover everything--lectures, reading for lectures, and section reading.

Selling the books required for the course, email me if interested.