The final exam was significantly harder than the midterm. Some material on the final exam was not covered in class. Towards the end of the quarter, we had covered such a broad range of material that it was difficult to discern what was important to study.

Moral of the story: keep up with the readings. Johns is decently engaging, certainly not the worst lecturer, but not the best. She does her best to make it understandable and is passionate. Homework weekly case studies with quizzes following, questions can deviate from reading but easy. Midterm easily manageable, 10ish straightforward questions. Final slaughtered me, 19 short answer questions of anything and everything. Overall, great material, good professor, boring textbook.

While Prof Johns' lectures do get a little dry sometimes, I feel she did a commendable job of summarizing endless pages of reading in her lectures. For the exams I felt well prepped just skimming through the textbook after reading lecture notes. One thing though, she doesn't put up lecture slides or have audio recordings, so if you're someone who skips lecture you might struggle.

Johns was very straightforward. The midterm was pretty easy if you go to the test bank and get the exams from past years. It's all very definition based, and follow the book closely because she's looking for exact things in your answers (the exams are all short answers) aka the three rationalist causes for war, the two requirements for a public good, etc. Her slides are very clear, lectures are easy to follow. The notes took a while to do but I recommend reading and doing the notes. There's also a case study every week with a quiz, but I never got less than 100% on the quizzes just by reading through the case study once and taking down important notes. Both midterm and final are curved.

I really liked this class. There is an ENORMOUS law textbook that she requires, but I bought it and didn't open it once and did fine. The only books you need are the one she writes, which is pretty cheap on amazon, and the casebook from the UCLA store which is $10. The class is organized, her slides are clear and easy to follow, and she is a very engaging lecturer. The section quizzes are simple if you read; I would usually read them about an hour before section. If reading cases seems daunting, the casebook is edited by her so only the relevant parts are left, and the longest one is maybe 8 pages. She doesn't post her slides or record her lectures, so if you miss class you're kinda screwed. I didn't find the exams overly difficult, but they definitely require a moderate studying. Just make sure you take good notes during lecture. She also has an adorable puppy that she has at her office hours most weeks. I would recommend this class to most PS majors, especially if you are considering law school.

Boring lectures, I often fell asleep. She doesnt post slides online, so you definetly need to go to class every day. Other than that, the material was interesting, Professor Johns was really nice and informative, and I'd probably take the class again.

Literally never opened the textbook and got an A. Just go to lecture and section and study what is taught in class because that's what you're tested on. Johns reuses test questions so definitely go to the test bank. Tests are hard, but curved really well, definitely would take again.

Professor is very kind, engaging, and clear about expectations. Tests are straightforward, there are weekly case studies and quizzes in section. Participation in section is important. Easy to do well if you attend lecture and study for the Midterm and Final exams.

First off, don't read the Shaw text book. Don't even buy it. It's a waste of time and money. I went into this class hearing it was the hardest class in the PS Major and talking to a guy who apparently worked at Bloomberg fresh out of undergrad and he said he got a B-. So I went into this class full tilt, read everything, etc. It's really not that hard. (Though obviously you are going to have to work)

Professor Johns is SUPER clear on everything, her power points are very straight forward, and her curve in the exams is beyond generous. Pay attention to lectures and read the case studies and know them really well. The final is cumulative so it's a ton of memorization, but if you work hard and know the material you won't get killed, and her curve will save you.

I recommend taking this political science class, it was my first upper division and I thought it would be hard but it was manageable. The textbook is unnecessary but read the cases in the course readers since there are quizzes in discussion each week on the cases which are easy. The test is also straightforward and based on the lectures. Therefore, if you miss one lecture it will be bad since she does not post slides or podcasts the class. You need to go to every lecture to understand the materials. Going to her office hours is helpful as well. Super nice professor and I would take another class with her