I took this class during my first quarter at UCLA, and I loved it. The professor is really nice and chill, he gives off shy awkward vibes in the best way. You can tell he loves the material and that is conveyed during his lectures, he pretty much reads off the slides so you'll do fine if you don't go to lecture but sometimes he'll explain thing further, go through stuff on the board, and answer people's questions which can be helpful when you attend. He also records the lectures if I remember correctly. The workload is pretty light, you have weekly readings and a podcast but you'll be completely fine if you don't do them, my TA told us that as long as we read the abstract for them we would be fine. You have a couple of weekly papers based on different articles provided and those would probably be the only ones you would have to read in further detail. The TA's are really really helpful, Ayoung is THE BEST would definitely recommend. You can go to office hours and they'll help you go over the papers before you turn them in so you can make sure you're doing it right and you can also get feedback on previous ones. The midterm and final exam I though were pretty easy, I took them during the TA strike so they were take-home (I'm not sure if they always are) but they were pretty easy and my TA went over questions similar to the ones asked on the exams so I had a pretty solid idea on how to approach them. Overall, its a really cool class, would definitely take again.

This class was great and very interesting if politics/government interest you. You had to read two scholarly papers every week and listen to one podcast. It was not necessary to do the readings and attend lecture; you can get away with only doing one. Lectures were optional and discussions were mandatory. There were three paper explainers where you had to summarize a scholarly paper in one page or a 3-min recording. There was a short answer midterm and a multiple choice final. This class requires great reading comprehension, and it's helpful to come in with some pre-existing knowledge (ie. AP Gov or APUSH).

Midterm Exam (30%)
Final Exam (35%)
Paper Explainers (30%, 10% each)
Section Participation (5%)

I definitely think the A I got in this class was thanks to the TA strike. While the Paper Explainers are pretty straightforward, the midterm was hard to understand - Prof Thompson changed his 'no curve' policy because the average grade was a low D. Overall, this class probably isn't as bad as the other PS pre-major requirements, but you definitely should know how to write well and figure out exactly what a prof is asking for to do well.

This was a great class! Professor Thompson focuses on one topic each lecture and explains the existing research on that topic. 30% of your grade is paper explainers, and up to three people from the same discussion can turn in the same paper explainer. You just choose a paper to summarize, but he basically summarizes each paper in the lectures anyway so just refer to those. The midterm average before the curve was a D, but he took off the question that almost everyone missed which bumped up grades 10% then gave us an easy 3% extra credit quiz. The midterm really wasn't bad if you paid attention to the lectures and discussion section. Everything on there was in the lecture slides, the answers just aren't always intuitive so make sure you check with the lectures/recordings. The final bumped everyone's grade up because he switched it to multiple-choice but that was primarily because of the TA strike I believe. It was also significantly easier than the midterm anyway. I thought the class was interesting, I'd take it again!

Professor Thompson is clearly passionate about his work, although it does not translate incredibly well. His slides are very very to the point and he posts old recorded lectures. However when it came to the midterm the average was a 26/40, and it felt more like a homework assignment than an exam (pdf you download and you have two days to answer the questions). You can't simply know the facts in. superficial manner, but determining how and what material to go into depth is confusing. Other than that you have these super short papers (3 of them) that are very easy.

Very interesting a straightforward class. I really loved how Thompson organized his lectures, it was very easy to understand him and take notes. He was incredibly accommodating to his students in regards to grading and the TA strike. A great first Poli Sci class to take at UCLA, I highly recommend. (Also a good social analysis GE if you need one)

This is the only non-A letter grade I’ve ever received over the course of my entire academic career (I will be graduating 2024). I went to class, took notes, listened to the podcasts, discussed the material with classmates—it wasn’t enough. I feel like I could have taken an A- but a B is not proper representation for what I actually learned. That being said, I did not enjoy the material in this class. Dan’s lectures are fairly boring as he spends most of the time regurgitating research materials and tying them together for “correct answers” that he specifically curates, but doesn’t communicate how you must specify the answers for the exams. As a political science major, I was disappointed in the instruction (Dan + TAs), grading, and overall quality of this course. Dan is intelligent and loves the material but not the students or overall learning trajectory of the class.

All you have to do is look at the slides while you do the take home final/midterm and show up to discussions to get an A. The professor is really nice and his lectures are interesting. I took it as a GE and I thought it was really easy and I learned a lot. Definitely recommend this class with Thompson.

This class was fairly easy. The content was pretty simple, and if you went to lecture you would be totally fine. The exams were not hard, and if you do the readings, you will ace them. I don't think I would recommend it for a Social Analysis GE, because it isn't very interesting (unless you like political science) and it is slightly more work than others. I took it for a lower-division Communications requirement, and I recommend it for that scenario. The professor was nice and very chill!

This was the very first class I attended in college. It was great. Professor Thompson was a very clear lecturer. Moreover, I got super sick (literally all of fall quarter I was bed-ridden), and he offered fully recorded lectures. Like actual recordings that showed him teaching. This was a lifesaver. He also posted the slides. It was super helpful because I could just do the lectures in bed, and not fall behind. The lectures were interesting and relevant.
There were weekly readings assigned, and I suggest skimming through them in order to stay up to date. I fell off, and stopped reading them and would cram around the midterm/final, but it would just be easier to read them as they get assigned. The midterm and final were both take home assignments that asked you to answer questions in paragraph or bullet point form, using and quoting the weekly readings. There were also 3 1-page reflections assigned that were basically a synopsis of one of the papers we had read (you can choose).
The instructions were a little unclear for the paper explainers, so I got an 85 on the first one. However, once I went to my TA for clarification, I received 100s on the next 2. If you are remotely interested in American politics, this class is great. I loved it and have tried taking another Pol Sci class since.