The professor was okay, to be honest. Not the best professor and not the worst, I found the lectures and readings to be really boring. I found it easy to pass the class not by watching lectures but by watching youtube videos breaking down the readings and main concepts, with that I was able to get Bs or As on the weekly 500 word papers. I also want to give a shoutout to Naomi Ellis who was my TA as she was amazing and honestly one of the main reasons I even passed, she was very lenient grading, always open to asking questions about any subjects, and not super strict on tardiness or having to switch discussion times for the day. But the class and discussion did require you to have the physical copies of the books which can be pretty pricey, I got away using online formats in the discussion, but I can't speak for everyone. I found it ridiculous how for the final paper, the professor upped the word requirement from 500 to 2500 with no warning, it was hard writing 500 words already. But if you don't mind reading about philosophy from old white men, go for it.

I just mainly wanted to leave a review because I saw that someone said to avoid TA Soper at all costs, and I thought that was a little unfair because he was super nice and really accommodating. For context, after receiving a B on my first paper (which stressed me out because writing is my strength) I met with him every single week there was a paper and twice a week for the final paper and he was always really accommodating and would meet with me outside of OH because I had class during his normal OHs. That said, this class was definitely hard and stressful. I took it because I needed to as my last lower div for Poli Sci, but I would recommend taking a different class if you can. However! It IS possible to succeed and do well in this class! Don't led bad reviews discourage you. I ended up with a 96% in the class and while I did work really hard it was also my first ever political theory course and I was super nervous so believe in yourself!

DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS! It truly isn't worth it. You'll have to write 6 essays and read hundreds of pages of political theory just to end up getting your grade curved down so that Dienstag can maintain his precious grade distribution. He has a strict limit on the number of A's that can be given out and apparently this limit isn't negotiable.

If it hadn't been for the forced deflation of grades, I would have left a much better review. I wasn't expecting to enjoy learning about political theory as much as I actually did, though this probably comes down to a personal preference. Although the readings were pretty dry, they brought up some interesting points sometimes. I did find that I spent most of my time on this class (probably more than my other 3 combined) because the almost weekly 500-word essays required a lot of time and thinking (plus a lot of reading). It was also really difficult writing a 2000-word final paper after spending all quarter trying to be as concise as possible.

To be fair, Dienstag's lectures were good and my TA was great. It was just really upsetting and unreasonable for our grades to be curved down after being put through all of that work.

This class is exceedingly difficult compared to the upper-division courses. Every week you are expected to have read a whole book on a different theorist, and write a 500-word paper. The TAs are in charge of the grading, and if Soper is an option, avoid it at all costs. Not only is he unhelpful in his critiques, but even if you feel like you followed his guidelines, it is still not enough. To make matters worse, he inputted my grade wrong. I received a grade higher than what is reflected on MyUCLA, which is extremely frustrating.

If you are not already a fan of theory, then Dienstag will put you to sleep. He doesn't take attendance in lectures, so it is best to skip class and learn the material through YouTube instead. This class will burn you out, and should only be taken if absolutely necessary.

Best class I've taken at UCLA. If you get the chance to take Dienstag please do it. This was my first theory class and he was so clear in his lectures and was very engaging for someone who doesn't use slides. The class was laid out very well so you are actually able to understand and internalize the material rather than regurgitating useless info. The TA Steve was fantastic, I actually looked forward to discussion every week. I highly recommend this class and this professor especially.

Go to lecture or you'll fail.
He gives amazing insight about the topics and reading material needed to write the weekly essays, so go to lecture. Seriously.
I frankly enjoyed this class, and my TA Naveed was fantastic.
One time, Dienstag brought a fake axe to lecture to make a point about a political theory. He has very dry humor, and I was definitely a fan.

This class convinced me that I did *not* want to do political theory.

Going into it, I knew it was going to be more philosophy than contemporary political science, which is not really my jam. That being said, I very much enjoyed Professor Dienstag's lectures and found them to be really thought-provoking.

The problem was the harsh and subjective gradings from my TA. For a class that is all based on essays, my TA was not helpful at all in explaining 1) how to best construct an essay on political theory, 2) why a certain essay would get the grade it did, and 3) how to improve. Basically, I'd work hours on an essay, submit it, and get it back with no feedback, just a single letter grade. I went to his office hours once and he seemed pretty disinterested in helping me improve my essays.

Lastly, I have no idea how they calculate final grades for this class. As aforementioned, you are only assigned 5 (IIRC) essays for the entire class. They are each given their own weights. However, the grades I got on my essays were just solid As and Bs, no percentages or even plusses or minuses. How do you calculate that into being a final grade? Is an A a 95%, or a 93%? What about a B? I asked my TA about this, and he basically avoided my question. Essentially, all I see in my gradebook is a few As and and bunch of Bs, and then my final grade of a flat B. How was this final grade determined?

In all, I personally found the class material and Professor Dienstag to be interesting and thought-provoking, but the arbitrariness of grading and essays makes the class not worth taking, in my opinion.

Dienstag is the funniest and engaging I've ever had at UCLA. Even though the material is dense, expect to read in detail on Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, just to name a few. Intense work load, 5 two page paper and a 5-7 page final paper. Definitely not an easy GE, but I learned so much from the class.

It is not necessarily the lecture that is the problem, but unbelievably harsh grading by the TA's, especially Kye Barker, who seems more concerned in his opinion than the actual material presented in class. Have had several discussions to which I am spellbound at this particular T.A.'s departure from how papers should be formed. Will argue with you that a thesis needs to have a quote. Expect to learn things and even enjoy texts from the lecture, however see all the fun dry up as you continue to have to have each of the texts PRECISELY worded and defined in the way in which the T.A. would. If you care about good grades, this will drive you out of your mind. No matter how many office hours you spend, they will either "like" or "dislike" your writing. Never mind rubrics, fairness, and the classic structure of essay writing, but instead get roadblock after roadblock, inability to formulate original thought without penalty, and find the essays you write in this class to be nearly impossible without telepathy or simply the off chance the TA will like your writing style. If you like your G.P.A., do NOT take this class, especially if run by TA Kye Barker!!!!

As a Political Science major, I expected this class to pertain to politics since it was part of the department. If you've taken more concrete political science classes (American, Comparative, etc.), do NOT expect this class to be similar. It was very similar to philosophy classes I've taken, as it covers texts that are theoretical rather than concrete. I enjoyed it thoroughly because I also love philosophy and theory, but my friends who prefer more concrete politics did not enjoy it at all. Dienstag is a fantastic lecturer; his lectures are very clearly formatted and therefore easy to follow. The entire course grade is made up of weekly essays which increase in worth each week, leading up to a final essay worth 25%. If you don't mind essays, this is a completely doable workload. My TA (Naveed) was fantastic, so discussions often centered around contemporary issues, such as Black Lives Matter, which made dense material much more palatable.