Prof. Branstetter is a nice guy, but this is easily the worst class I've taken at UCLA. Disorganized, incomprehensible lectures and the lack of detailed powerpoints makes the dense material even harder to understand.

Absolutely loved this class, easily one of my favorite classes taken here. Branstetter does a great job of making one of the most daunting and challenging books I've ever seen extremely accessible and relatively easy to get. There was (I think?) 7 quizzes that you had from the end of the class to the beginning of the next class to do on that chapter/lecture worth a total of 20%, and a midterm and final each worth 40%. He is extremely helpful if you have any questions about the material. I am not normally a fan of political theory, but he definitely made it worth it.

Branstetter is by far one of the most caring and considerate professors at UCLA. His lectures make something as complex as Karl Marx understanding, and he is very forgiving if he sees you putting in an effort. The class is very reading dense and requires rereading of a very big and dense book, but rest assured Branstetter is so helpful in his lectures. His course has 7 pop quizzes but he drops 2. He also has one midterm worth 30% of your grade and a final making up 45% of your grade. Overall, I highly recommend this class.

Incredible professor. Great GE for anyone who's okay writing 1 1-2 page partner essay a week. Readings can be long but are relevant and engaging.

Professor John (as he likes to be called) is obviously very passionate about the material. That being said, he assigns a LOT of reading. However... I did not do any of it. You just need to have a basic concept of it (like a 3-4 paragraph summary), and if you do you can easily follow along in lectures. TAKE NOTES. Tie what you learned in the lecture into your paper and you'll get a 100%. The class consists of a weekly essay, 1-2 pages single-spaced. If you are not doing the readings, know a summary and go to lectures, and tie those notes into your paper. If you are doing the readings, tie what you learned into your paper and only go to lecture if you feel like it. You can submit your essay up as many times as you want to get a 100%, and it being said that these papers are the only things you do in the class, it is very easy to get an A+. Discussion sections are obviously mandatory and if you weren't feeling like going to lecture, the section often covers similar material you can use in your paper. No midterm and no final. This class is very low stress if you avoid the readings... however, if you are not going to lecture and not doing the readings at the same time, it may be very time consuming and stressful to research enough to make your paper sound good. So either do one or the other and this class will be a breeze. I really enjoyed it and Professor John offers two opportunities throughout the week to connect about the material or honestly anything else. If you are really passionate about Political Science and not just looking for an easy GE, definitely show up to office hours. Professor John is amazing and I highly recommend this class.

Professor Branstetter is an amazing person and professor. The content has been switched from previous quarters but is very interesting and involves a lot of philosophical questions. The grade is all points based. You get 3 points per section you attend (30 points total) and then 7 points a week (10 of them) for a one-page (single-spaced) essay. You are allowed to submit the essay as many times as you need to get the grade you want and they are encouraged to be submitted every week, but are technically not required to submit it until finals week. However, the weekly readings are very chunky (sometimes over 200ish pages). He has a zoom and a recorded option and does not take lecture attendance. Overall, this class is one of the best Poli Sci lower divs and a really easy GE. Enrollment for this class is super hard to get, but worth it to keep trying (he sometimes will give out PTEs depending on how the department is feeling).

I really enjoyed this class. I didn't think I would be interested in Marxism, but it was very interesting, and since there were no tests, I feel like I could better take in the content and interpret it instead of having to memorize things. Professor Branstetter is amazing and really knows what he is talking about. The lectures were definitely long at an hour and 50 minutes (and mine was at 8am). There were only 10 assignments, each a 500 word essay responding to the question of the week (and you worked with the same partner on all of them).They are all due finals week, although it is heavily encouraged to submit earlier, as you can edit and they will regrade it until you get the score you want. Even though there are little assignments, you read one chapter of Marx's Capital about every class period and the book is over 600 pages that you read throughout the quarter. Overall, it was a great class and I feel like I learned a lot about capitalism and the economy.

Branstetter is one of the most phenomenal lecturers at UCLA. I think everyone, regardless of major, should take this course at some point in their lives because he truly challenges all of your preconceived notions of society, free will, and human behavior. He breaks down the readings in a way that anyone could understand and find interesting. I appreciated how reasonable the workload was, especially for a political theory class. More poli sci classes should adopt this structure!
My critique of this class is that it spent 10 weeks identifying problems in society and human nature but it did not provide any solutions. It was SO difficult to apply the content because it seemed like there was nothing that could be done. It felt a little depressing. I wish this class included actionable steps or policy implications to make this content more concrete.

10/10 class, absolutely would take it again. Take this class if you have the option to.
Professor Branstetter is an incredible lecturer; he makes the most boring and convoluted concepts seem incredibly simple and fun. He is a great teacher and will 100% make every student think twice about their current perceptions and daily actions. This is a class that is not only extremely easy to do well in, but intriguing. Both the professor and my TA (Shae Himmelberger) make the learning environment very welcoming with little embarrassment if you get a question wrong. I cannot tell you how much I loved this class. I will gladly take any class with either Professor Branstetter or TA Shae Himmelberger, no matter if it's the most boring subject matter.
Grade distribution: 30% sections (10 sections, each worth 10 points) and 70% weekly essays (10 essays, each worth 7 points)
Sections are mandatory and you cannot be more than five minutes late. However, I believe if you have a valid excuse (funeral, illness, etc.) you can make them up, they are very understanding.
Essays are single-spaced, 1-2 pages, about a weekly question. You get a partner for them, one that is in your section. However, my partner and I just took turns writing the essays. A lot of the reading is long and boring, but Shae and Professor makes it extremely easy to understand and write an essay on. The essay is NOT SUMMARIZING THE READING! The question will be like 'Are you normal?' or 'Does your moral conduct matter for politics?' and you need to quote the readings to support your argument. The essays are graded on a 7 point scale, with anything less than a 7 receiving feedback on how to improve it. You can then resubmit it as many times as you want to get a 100%.
Grading scale:
A+ 97-100

Oh Branstetter the icon you are... If you see his name just take the course!