POL SCI 50
Introduction to Comparative Politics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Not open for credit to students with credit for course 50R. Comparative study of constitutional principles, governmental institutions, and political processes in selected countries. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
1 of 2
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - Professor Blair and the TA's are on your team in this class- which is an odd and unfamiliar feeling at a school that's so big like UCLA. They were so accessible and I was so appreciative of how supported I was by them. If there are negative reviews of this class, please take them with a grain of salt- it was Prof. Blair's first run of teaching ps 50, but nevertheless, it was a wonderful class. The only things it required of you were your time for an hour and 15 minutes twice a week for the lectures (which aren't really lectures but rather groupwork time) and about an hour/hour and a half outside of class to engage with the readings/podcasts that were assigned online. So, really if you put minimal effort into the class and just try a little to understand what's going on, you will go far. The professor and TA's were super duper helpful!!! Cesar was amazing- I absolutely adored him as a TA and Prof. Blair was always so great, too. I totally recommend going to the discussion sessions even though they were voluntary. Prof. Blair is such an angel and was so flexible and responsive to feedback. I seriously could not sing his praises high enough. I think a lot of people were intimidated initially and were stuck in a headspace thinking that the class was "hard and unfair," but I think that mentality led them to not try and they might have manifested the class to seem unfair or hard, but it really just isn't a hard class.
Spring 2021 - Professor Blair and the TA's are on your team in this class- which is an odd and unfamiliar feeling at a school that's so big like UCLA. They were so accessible and I was so appreciative of how supported I was by them. If there are negative reviews of this class, please take them with a grain of salt- it was Prof. Blair's first run of teaching ps 50, but nevertheless, it was a wonderful class. The only things it required of you were your time for an hour and 15 minutes twice a week for the lectures (which aren't really lectures but rather groupwork time) and about an hour/hour and a half outside of class to engage with the readings/podcasts that were assigned online. So, really if you put minimal effort into the class and just try a little to understand what's going on, you will go far. The professor and TA's were super duper helpful!!! Cesar was amazing- I absolutely adored him as a TA and Prof. Blair was always so great, too. I totally recommend going to the discussion sessions even though they were voluntary. Prof. Blair is such an angel and was so flexible and responsive to feedback. I seriously could not sing his praises high enough. I think a lot of people were intimidated initially and were stuck in a headspace thinking that the class was "hard and unfair," but I think that mentality led them to not try and they might have manifested the class to seem unfair or hard, but it really just isn't a hard class.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - hahahahahahahahahahaahahaa Don't let the A-rate fool you. Professor and his one (1) teaching assistant made it clear that they were going to make this class harder this quarter than previous quarters so that we could transition back to in-person learning. That should have been a red flag, but who knew that it would also manifest into such terrible and confusing policies. - No more recorded lectures during a pandemic. Mandatory attendance. - The midterm. Oh, the midterm. Ask any PS50 SPR 21 student about the mid-term and they can tell you a story. Here are some of the facts (there are more, and I hope other reviews can mention them too): - About half of the class to more than half got an 88 on the mid-term. Yes. An 88. Very little variation. Why? Why an 88? Was it poor writing? Bad technique? Misunderstanding of important concepts? No. It was because they didn't mention a single concept on an essay whose prompt did not in any way shape or form indicate that mentioning that concept was necessary to answer the prompt. In fact, the prompt said "(not checks and balances)." Yet the TA insisted after the grading, to the whole class, that we should have mentioned the motion of confidence (which is a CHECK against the executive branch). Even though the prompt was asking about what factors played into the DOMINANCE OF THE EXECUTIVE. Even though the professor and TA said before handing out the midterm prompts that we could just write about what we know to show our understanding, and gave lots of suggestions that the prompt was open-ended. Yes, not mentioning one concept out of relevant concepts from five weeks of lectures was enough to bring you down 12% to an 88. Oops, I'm getting too much into the weeds. Here are some more facts: - getting the mid-term grades released in week 9 - ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts. - 10 clarification/info emails and continually changing the citation requirements a few days to one day before the final paper was due. - Even if you do extremely well it is borderline impossible to get an A+, only 1 person max gets an A+ every quarter (and sometimes it is 0). That being said, there were some plus sides to the class. We were allowed to meet the TA to talk about our midterm and rewrite our midterm to move the 88 to a 90. We were given a bonus extra credit prompt on the final. That is how a large amount of us were probably able to get an A in this class even though we had 88s on the midterm. Also, the lectures were relatively interesting and the readings were extremely light (a few journal and wikipedia articles). The TA and professor also seemed well-intentioned by allowing midterm rewrites, the bonus question, and a 3-day extension on the final paper. However, I would not take this class again. The confusing and subjective grading policies were not worth it. This class has been a source of frustration ever since those subjective midterm grades were released up until today when I got my grade. Glad it's finally over.
Spring 2021 - hahahahahahahahahahaahahaa Don't let the A-rate fool you. Professor and his one (1) teaching assistant made it clear that they were going to make this class harder this quarter than previous quarters so that we could transition back to in-person learning. That should have been a red flag, but who knew that it would also manifest into such terrible and confusing policies. - No more recorded lectures during a pandemic. Mandatory attendance. - The midterm. Oh, the midterm. Ask any PS50 SPR 21 student about the mid-term and they can tell you a story. Here are some of the facts (there are more, and I hope other reviews can mention them too): - About half of the class to more than half got an 88 on the mid-term. Yes. An 88. Very little variation. Why? Why an 88? Was it poor writing? Bad technique? Misunderstanding of important concepts? No. It was because they didn't mention a single concept on an essay whose prompt did not in any way shape or form indicate that mentioning that concept was necessary to answer the prompt. In fact, the prompt said "(not checks and balances)." Yet the TA insisted after the grading, to the whole class, that we should have mentioned the motion of confidence (which is a CHECK against the executive branch). Even though the prompt was asking about what factors played into the DOMINANCE OF THE EXECUTIVE. Even though the professor and TA said before handing out the midterm prompts that we could just write about what we know to show our understanding, and gave lots of suggestions that the prompt was open-ended. Yes, not mentioning one concept out of relevant concepts from five weeks of lectures was enough to bring you down 12% to an 88. Oops, I'm getting too much into the weeds. Here are some more facts: - getting the mid-term grades released in week 9 - ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts. - 10 clarification/info emails and continually changing the citation requirements a few days to one day before the final paper was due. - Even if you do extremely well it is borderline impossible to get an A+, only 1 person max gets an A+ every quarter (and sometimes it is 0). That being said, there were some plus sides to the class. We were allowed to meet the TA to talk about our midterm and rewrite our midterm to move the 88 to a 90. We were given a bonus extra credit prompt on the final. That is how a large amount of us were probably able to get an A in this class even though we had 88s on the midterm. Also, the lectures were relatively interesting and the readings were extremely light (a few journal and wikipedia articles). The TA and professor also seemed well-intentioned by allowing midterm rewrites, the bonus question, and a 3-day extension on the final paper. However, I would not take this class again. The confusing and subjective grading policies were not worth it. This class has been a source of frustration ever since those subjective midterm grades were released up until today when I got my grade. Glad it's finally over.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2018 - I took this course Summer of 2019. He was an excellent teacher and it really showed through this teaching efforts that he cared about student learning. I had a personal emergency and he was very understanding and accomdating when it came to the exams. I'm not saying he's hyper-lenient but he's fair and an understanding professor. Lecture slides were informative and had memes but definitely made more sense with the reading. Required reading is short and most if not all online. Exams are fair and applicative. I actually regret not getting to interact with him more because his interests in poly sci and stats are intriguing. Would definitely recommend and take course again. He's on his way to a well respected name in Political Science field of Academia.
Summer 2018 - I took this course Summer of 2019. He was an excellent teacher and it really showed through this teaching efforts that he cared about student learning. I had a personal emergency and he was very understanding and accomdating when it came to the exams. I'm not saying he's hyper-lenient but he's fair and an understanding professor. Lecture slides were informative and had memes but definitely made more sense with the reading. Required reading is short and most if not all online. Exams are fair and applicative. I actually regret not getting to interact with him more because his interests in poly sci and stats are intriguing. Would definitely recommend and take course again. He's on his way to a well respected name in Political Science field of Academia.
Most Helpful Review
Posner's Comparative Politics class is interesting. He goes over your run-of-the-mill comparative breadth (institutions, etc) and then moves on to globalization. He is well prepared and lectures very effectively. The course reader is quite expensive (~$80), but a breeze to read. On the tests, a simple definition and how it relates to the overarching ideas in the class would get you an A.
Posner's Comparative Politics class is interesting. He goes over your run-of-the-mill comparative breadth (institutions, etc) and then moves on to globalization. He is well prepared and lectures very effectively. The course reader is quite expensive (~$80), but a breeze to read. On the tests, a simple definition and how it relates to the overarching ideas in the class would get you an A.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - After taking this class, I genuinely hate this man. Even though I got a good grade in the end, he was the most disagreeable person to learn from. He would get unnecessarily heated if someone walked in late to class and talked about life in the most grumpy fashion. Yes, he covered a lot during his lectures and I did learn a lot. However, he often rambled on about a topic or a single example for 20-25 minutes and that information ended up being useless. His graders were INTENSE and it was nearly impossible to do well on his essays. Another thing on those essays, the instructions are weirdly vague yet graded harshly. If I didn't love poli sci, this class would have made me hate it. I read the bruinwalk reviews before I took the class and decided to take a chance. DONT IGNORE THE REVIEWS ITS SO HARD TO DO WELL IN THIS CLASS.
Winter 2020 - After taking this class, I genuinely hate this man. Even though I got a good grade in the end, he was the most disagreeable person to learn from. He would get unnecessarily heated if someone walked in late to class and talked about life in the most grumpy fashion. Yes, he covered a lot during his lectures and I did learn a lot. However, he often rambled on about a topic or a single example for 20-25 minutes and that information ended up being useless. His graders were INTENSE and it was nearly impossible to do well on his essays. Another thing on those essays, the instructions are weirdly vague yet graded harshly. If I didn't love poli sci, this class would have made me hate it. I read the bruinwalk reviews before I took the class and decided to take a chance. DONT IGNORE THE REVIEWS ITS SO HARD TO DO WELL IN THIS CLASS.
AD
1 of 2
