I love Karen Orren. She is a gem in the department and truly a historical genius. A lot of political science classes at UCLA neglect the importance of historical analysis - Professor Orren fills that gap. Some of her arguments are complex and take a bit of energy to discern, but with attendance and relative attention to the assigned reading you will have a delightful intellectual journey.

You have to read, you have to listen to her slide-less lectures, and you have to memorize a handful of important cases/policies/historical events. BUT the intellectual outcome is really worth it if you are curious about American politics, polarization, nationalism, and democratic development.

I would not reccomend Ryan as a TA though - they were not very helpful.

If you have trouble focusing, I wouldn't recommend this class. The course is generally taught with no lecture slides to refer back to and you can never tell when the Professor is using notes or not. Most lectures seem like one long tangent.
The TAs are incredibly helpful and if it wasn't for mine, I would not understand a single thing being said. Do the readings, work with people, go to TA office hours.