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.

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.

Amazing class: the usual from Branstetter. While the material is quite challenging, the lectures will help get you through it. I'd highly recommend doing all the reading, even if it's just skimming, but absolutely positively go to lecture. Nothing made sense to me toward the latter half of the quarter. The only reason I was able to end as strongly as I did was because of lecture and because I went back and corroborated it with the reading. That said, it's probably my least favorite Branstetter class. I think his East Asian PT and Comparative PT classes are way better. I think the material in those classes suit him better. Nonetheless, you will not go wrong with this class.

Branstetter is one of my favorite profs - this is the second class of his that I've taken! He's really smart, funny, and cares about his students. This class mainly goes over Marx's Capital Vol. 1, which is a *very* heavy read. However, Branstetter does an amazing job of breaking down the reading and pulling out the most important points. The course itself has 7 unannounced quizzes to make sure you keep up with the reading (lowest 2 scores are dropped), a midterm, and a final. Overall, the quizzes/exams aren't too bad as long as you've done the readings and paid attention in class to get a real understanding of the material. You definitely have to put in the work to do well in this class, but it's worth it!

I really like the professor. He is very kind and helpful. The course is comprised of reading quizzes (given out randomly), a take home midterm, and a take home final. You really have to understand Branstetter's interpretation of Marx to get full credit on the exam. It was a lot harder than I was expecting based on the reviews. I would suggest going to office hours and copious notes during lectures to get full credit on the midterm and final.

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.