This class was tough for me I cannot lie. Midterm, Final, and a 15 page final research paper that made me regret signing up for the class. I will say it is nice that there are no surprises in the class as he gives all 15 midterm/final questions up front and chooses 4 at random. He also is pretty organized with lots of slides and records lectures. Your midterm/final responses are timed and in person. They are generally a page and half for each question as there multiple parts to each question and you have to provide a very comprehensive answer with historical examples for each one. Memorizing everything was a bit challenging for me but doable. The paper is where I really struggled as it’s based off a book that I thought was hella dense and so boring. I have never spent so much time on a paper, definitely utilize your TA’s office hours to make sure you’re on the right track. By far hardest class this quarter but if this is interesting to you and you are able to memorize a lot of content and write fast for the midterm/final go for it I guess lol.

Great class!! I loved this professor; he was very kind, approachable, and taught with a lot of clarity. His lectures were straightforward and I definitely found the material to be valuable. I enjoyed this class a lot, although it did require decent effort as there are two exams, and a 15 page paper. Go to office hours!

One of the best UCLA professors by far. Very kind, approachable, lectures are clear and concise, you can tell he is very passionate about what he is teaching. TA’s are also great! Overall, I would take this class again. One tip is to stay caught up on the readings, pay attention to lectures, and manage your time well. The research paper was 15 pages so pretty long and did take a while to complete but he gives you a generous amount of time to finish it. Additionally, he gives you the study guide for the midterm and final from the beginning of the quarter. Questions are slightly hard to answer but his office hours are very helpful. Overall, he is such an amazing professor which made the topics interesting. I learned a lot from his class!

Very straightforward class. Professor is very approachable and helpful. If you are looking for an easy pol sci class, take this one. A lot of reading ,but you don't really have to do it to pass.

Good amount of work, but it's manageable. I personally like the way he organizes exams (giving you questions in advance) but it does mean more studying. James is a good lecturer, and the class is very interesting.

This class was super interesting and engaging. I learned tons about the Presidency and actually enjoyed James a lot. While I think his midterm and final are very oddly structured, I somewhat understand it seeing as there are a lot of theories in this class to cover. In terms of lectures, I thought the slides made a lot of sense and were very easy to follow. I loved all the examples he put into them to to prove his points/claims. He does go very fast though and can be hard to keep up with. In terms of readings, this class was overkill as there were 5 books assigned plus many articles. To be honest, you can get through this class without reading too much though as the TA sums up a lot of the material. I also want to shout out Soonhong as being a great TA and really making this class 100x more manageable! Overall, I think this class was super interesting and I would definitely take another class with James again and would recommend this class.

I really enjoyed this class. Prof is clear, concise, and understanding. His lectures are really important and work to help you understand the reading. There is a fair amount of reading, but everything is clarified in lecture. I recommend doing the reading after the lec. If you are a bad test taker then def don't take this class. It is heavily based on exams.

If you are taking this class, do not think that it will be easy to pass. James assigns a lot of reading every week and skimming it is not necessarily helpful because many of the questions on the midterm and the final are about the readings.
To be honest, the final paper is the hardest assignment I have ever had in college. He asked us to apply Steven Skowronek's theory of political time to the Biden and Trump presidencies.

With that being said, James' lectures are engaging and well organized. If you go to office hours, he will help you with whatever you need. I found it particularly touching that he sent me multiple emails with sources that would help me with my paper after I went to office hours.

I don't think this class would have been my first choice, but if you plan ahead enough and stay on top of the readings, it is doable.

I enjoyed the class; I think that while it was a lot of work, Prof. James was very passionate about what he was teaching, and I felt like I learned quite a bit from the course. Course involves two exams - one midterm and one final - along with a paper due towards the end of the year. While I was able to do it because the rest of my course load was lighter, I would definitely recommend starting the essay early, especially if you have a heavier course load. The readings were also a lot more than I have been used to compared to other courses (around 75-150 pages per week), but they are doable as long as you stay on top of them. Overall, I liked the course and would recommend anyone interested in the topic to take it.

Do yourself a favor and do NOT take this class. It is the absolute worst class I have taken at UCLA. Again, do not take this class if you want to have normal mental health.