Easiest class of all time. I went to the first few lectures and he seemed to be a good lecturer. However, I learned that all the questions on the midterm and final were repeated from previous years. Not kidding - the exact same questions. Needless to say, simply find old tests and memorize. There is also one 3-5 page essay due at the end of the quarter. Kind of a weird topic, but manageable. You never have to go to discussion or lecture for this class. I recommend this class for an easy GE. For a Poli Sci major, I would recommend a more difficult professor unless you're willing to actually study for this class and get something out of it.

This man is gifted. He was blessed with the ability to put people to sleep. It's an easy class overall. Anyone can get an A. How you ask? He recycle test questions from previous years. Go the test bank. Get the midterms and finals, and get an A.

Schwartz is a witty professor who tries to make lectures interesting. I admit, there are times when his lectures make me want to go to sleep, but it's not as bad as some people claim. The class is very similar to an AP government class. It is not hard at all and the workload is reasonable. He bases his lectures on two books: one that is like a textbook which explains the structures of government, etc, (Lowi) and another one which contains scholarly articles by political scientists (Kollman). The midterm exam is based on lecture and also the Lowi book. HIs lecture notes definitely helped as well. The midterm exam has fill-in-the-blanks as well as some short answer questions.

There is a midterm essay and a midterm final. The midterm essay is written during your 50 minute discussion. They are both worth 20% of your grade. Then there is the final essay and the final paper. The page requirements for the paper and the topics range from TA to TA, but they are usually surrounding the same topics and themes, just worded differently or requiring you to look at something through a different angle. My final paper needed to be 5-7 pages. The final exam is the same format as the midterm exam. The final essay and the final exam are both 30% of your grade.

I am selling the required books for this course. Text ********** if you are interested. The Lowi book is like new and I have two copies of the Kollman book which is essential to the course. One is used and the other is brand new.

selling 11th ed of american government: power and purpose and readings in american politics. email me at ************* or text at **********

Easiest class ever. After Week 1, I stopped going to lecture or reading any of the "required" readings. The content of this class is simple if you've already taken a Government class in high school. Discussion was relatively useless, with the TA awkwardly trying to engage the class in discussion but inevitably no one cared enough to say anything so he'd just talk about his opinion for an hour. Spent 3 hours going over his lecture notes the night before the midterm. Didn't prepare for the essay part of the midterm at all. Churned out the final paper (3-5 pages, no sources or actual information required) in a couple of hours the day before it was due. The final was at 3 PM. I got up at 10 AM that morning and read his lecture notes over a couple of times. Aced the class easily and I have literally mentioned all the work I did for the class the entire quarter.

Can't comment too much on the professor's teaching style, but kudos to him for putting up comprehensive lecture notes online.

Everything on the midterm and final is in his lecture notes. You don't need to buy the book. The supplementary book might be good to reference readings in your final essay, but not much else. The midtern essay was timed and in section. Schwartz was an average lecturer, boring most of the time, and his jokes are hardly funny at all.

Schwartz is a nice guy who makes his the class very reasonable. You don't have to go to lecture but in order to pass the midterm and final you just have to cram the night before. Everything is pure memorization so just memorize his lecture notes. Albert Chiang is an easy TA so if possible get into his discussion. If you raise your hand once in each discussion he is willing to write you an amazing letter of recommendation.

All I have to say is that lectures are pointless. I think I went to about 3 of them and I ended up getting an A. This is a pretty easy class but it isn't blow off, and you need to actually study the lecture notes before the midterm/final. The stuff is pretty simple though and if you do a bit of background research, the essays aren't hard. I got an old midterm from SAC and got an old final from like 2000 and they helped me so much. But even if I didn't have that, if you really study the lecture notes, you'll be fine.

There is only one piece of advice I will give you for this class and it is: DO NOT BUY THE BOOKS.

The majority of the readings are small, public domain things (Federalist Papers, for example), which Schwartz posts online. Everything else is pretty much the same as the lectures.

The class is not easy, but not hard either.
He is a good professor and he tries to make the lectures interesting by cracking a few jokes here and there, that doesnt mean that the lectures are interesting. I found them extremely boring because he often drifts from the topic so you have no idea what he's talking about.

But I guess it can also depend is you are interested in politics at all. I wasn't interested at all, hence I found it boring.

All you need to do is read his lecture notes and study them!!! The exams are basically the lecture notes. Getting exams from the test bank also helps b/c they are basically the same thing with the exception of a question or two.

The final is not cumulative which helps a lot! Read the lecture notes and you'll be fine in the class.
I dont think buying the books is necessary b/c you dont use them, except when discussing some things in discussion which doesnt matter much.
It's all in the lecture notes!