I love Branstetter. He is, by far, the best political science professor I have had at UCLA and I'm not even political theory concentration. I would recommend, no, demand everyone take him while they are here. He is one of those rare gems that actually, in words and actions, care.

This is a good class for those who are consider themselves good "BSers" and/or critical-thinkers. If you're one of these types—and actually go to most of the lectures and take good notes—then this is a pretty easy A and requires very little work. The lectures themselves are fascinating; Branstetter is definitely in the mold of the stereotypical liberal arts college professor who "blows your mind" every now and then, even if you don't share his (incredibly left-leaning) ideological inclinations. He's also incredibly helpful and accessible towards any student who may not feel confident with the course material.

I would avoid this class if you think you're not straight-up not good at "BSing", as the only form of examination in the class is three take-home essays that are all quite abstract in nature.

Such an amazing class. If you're a Pol Sci major you should at least try to take one of Branstetter's courses because they're so engaging and relatively straight-forward. That said, I think it's time to dispel the myth that he's super easy. The workload was really pretty nice (dense readings at time but not bad compared to some other PS classes) but you had to read every single thing to pull off an A. The exams were pretty generously graded but there was no clearly defined rubric unless you went to his office hours after exam grades were returned. I ended up saying everything I knew about a topic within the frame of the question in my own words, and at times even that wasn't enough. I feel like you have very little way of knowing what is really asked of you; that said, the point penalty for coming up short on the expectations is pretty light. On the other hand, his lectures were among some of the best I've had in my time as an undergrad. Always efficiently timed, always engaging, always easily digestible, always interactive, even during Zoom. The quizzes were really not bad, and dare I say even a grade boost? I'd take a class with him again.

This is class was by far one of my favorite classes to take in my entire college experience no doubt. A really interesting, mind opening, and illuminating class to take for any grade, especially Seniors!

John Gavin Branstetter is one of the best profs at UCLA. I genuinely enjoyed his lectures and even his office hours and sculpture garden hours are engaging. His essay prompts are very clear; he is straight forward about what he is looking and he is more than happy to help out students who need further assistance with their papers.
Take him for theory, he sure makes the subject as interesting as possible

This class was so interesting. It prioritizes learning over grades, and I felt so connected to the materials and my classmates because I didn't have to constantly freak out over getting good scores. Such a great class and professor!

I took Professor Branstetter's Pre-Modern and Modern East Asian Political Thought classes and they were my absolute favourite! The content is really unique and Professor Branstetter is the kindest and most caring. He teaches us so much more than just work - about life! I always looked forward to his classes, even the 8ams, and that says a lot. :)
Overall, I definitely recommend!!!! You really CANNOT leave UCLA as a poli-sci major without this amazing, eye-opening class.

Branstetter is my absolute favorite educator in the Political Science department. He's a really fun(ny) professor, genuinely cares about his students' success, and prioritizes learning over grades. There is no hw, exams, or participation credit, just two 10-page group papers with the most lenient grading scale you can think of. The prompts are relatively easy to answer as long as you pay attention to lectures and communicate with your group. Because the lectures took place over Zoom, he recorded them and uploaded them shortly after class along with the slides. Some of the readings (which are free and uploaded online as PDFs) can be difficult, especially if you're new to socialist theory, but he does an amazing job of breaking it all down. Lastly, he was very understanding about the news of police violence/BLM protests towards the end of the quarter and adjusted the final paper so that it was optional AND extended the due date. I definitely recommend taking at least one class with him (any of them, honestly) during your time at UCLA because he really is the best!

If you like talking about racism, if you like hating on the West, and if you like making mountains out of molehills, this class is for you. Basically the four words you will hear the most throughout this semester are: racist, xenophobic, Eurocentric, and problematic. It's kind of annoying, but that being said I recommend this class.

Professor Branstetter is an engaging lecturer and is extremely helpful outside of class. He holds class meetings in the sculpture gardens once a week and has extra office hours leading up to an essay due date to accommodate students. Though I disagree with pretty much everything he said in class, he's a very nice guy and I really like him. He really goes the extra mile to make sure the class is as manageable as possible.

The class consists of three essays and no tests. There are readings due for each class with lecture based on the readings. Attendance isn't necessary, but I found that my class notes were essential for writing my essays. Side note- make sure to visit his office hours to get some notes on your essay at least once or twice before you submit. I would not have gotten A's had I not done so.

There are two sets of assignments in this class. You need to do 10 journals by week 6 and the other 10 by week 11. Each individual journal has to be 400-500 words long. For the first set, I got 100/100 and I did them in a span of three days. You have 5-6 weeks to do each so please do not risk yourself as I did. I just got lucky I guess. For the second set, I got an 88/100 and I think this was due to the fact that I did not do the last two journals as the professor made them optional. I did the last set in a span of two days so I ran out of time to do the last two. I think I would have ended with an A+ if I had done these two optional statement journals but oh well, I don't plan to go to law school anyway. Do not procrastinate like I did guys and you might end with an A+. Also, I do not think he gives A-. He only gives an A+, A, B+ and so on. Good luck guys!