Zaller got a lot of flack this quarter, but I think it was somewhat unwarranted. As long as you do the readings and pay attention, the quizzes were fairly straightforward. Also, it gets easy to know what to look for and he gives a lot of hints about what you will be quizzed on, which I thought was generous. The midterm and final were easy as long as you follow the structure that he lays out for you. It is a lot of work but I never felt like the readings were a waste of time or irrelevant to the class material. Would 10/10 recommend to anyone with an interest in politics.

I’ve personally had a great experience with professor Zaller... while the assigned readings are mandatory, they read more like short stories and often he just wants to know that you’re engaged with the quizzes. Yes that means being relatively specific, but he also gives you multiple questions so if you don’t remember one there’s usually another you’d be able to answer. I would say the quizzes are easy but know that reading could take anywhere from 3-12 hours/week depending on the workload (sometimes it varies), and you should take notes of key players/events and their effects if u aren’t already. It’s a bit historically loaded at the beginning but quickly becomes very modern and you get an understanding of where political parties are headed. Don’t know if I got an A yet but I think the quizzes better prepared me for the two essay exams because I did really well on my midterm, and it seemed like a lot of people in the class had a similar experience. Also, he grades on a scale of sorts, so it’s based on whoever does the best. If you care about what you’re learning, you’ll enjoy it and find it easier than others seem to have on this page.

Good class, very insightful professor, as long as you do the readings you should be fine.

I liked the course material, but I thought that there were a few issues with the way the class was structured and how worried he was about the reading quizzes. I was personally a fan of the course description and I kind of enjoyed the class, but it was very surface level, meaning that the quizzes that he was so constantly worried about were always a game of mindless memorization. Do the readings/do a study guide, and you will do fine, especially if they are in person. It's funny though cause the course grade is 1/3 quizzes but 2/3 midterms and final; he doesn't grade too hard on those so don't worry too much about those. Zaller seems like a nice guy though. His course just didn't end up being my cup of tea.

Honestly you really need to pay attention to lectures. There are no real PowerPoints per say. You hear the professor lecture most of the time and there's a lot he goes over. The topics may sound dense if you don't already enjoy it. But the explanation he gives is necessary to pay attention to. There is heavy readings every class. You couldn't skim over this because we had weekly quizzes that would be about the different readings and they were kind of specific. The readings were thick with some being 80+ pages for just one reading.
Additionally, the midterm and final consisted of writing an answer to his question. It was a broad question where you are to use the readings from class and also what was said in lecture and answer the prompt about political parties. It was timed. So grades consisted of midterm, final, and weekly quizzes. No way to get around readings, you need them. Take if you like the subject and can do with the readings.

Despite what everyone else says, I actually enjoyed taking this class. I found the material to be very relevant to today's political climate and the readings to be interesting. I admit that his lectures weren't always engaging but the information given was manageable. Everyone here complains about the readings, but it wasn't too bad. There was almost never 180-200 pages of reading a week, except for the one week where he assigned 2/3 of a book. The book wasn't a hard read as it was written for a non-academic audience. He gives the reading schedule in the syllabus and never deviated from it (except to cut a reading), so students could plan. Personally, I didn't find the quizzes too hard except for one or two. If you actually read the readings (and not skimmed like I imagine most people did) then you should be able to pull the relevant info from them. It is a reading heavy class but so are most upper-division political science classes. The whole class consists of a take-home midterm, take-home final, and then weekly reading quizzes.

I personally felt Zaller actually really enjoys this class and seems genuinely interested in the topic. To those who say he's terrible, well I've taken far worse and have read far worse reviews about other professors. It's not an easy A, but it's definitely not impossible.

he assigns sooo much reading and has weekly quizzes that he says are easy but are not by any means. this class was also super confusing as things were changed all the time, no organization or flow to the class. the material was so hard to follow because of how boring and long it consistently was. would not recommend :/

I don’t think I learned a single thing in this class. Professor would go on to talk about irrelevant things at lectures and the readings are absolutely horrid. He claims that he makes us take reading quizzes in order for him to know we read since the questions are supposed to be general and easy to answer if you read the material. In reality however, the questions are extremely difficult and require close attention to tiny details in a 200+ page reading. The midterm and final are graded super harsh and based on his specific outline of essay writing. I would not take this class if I knew what it would be like beforehand.

His quizzes were way too difficult because they were very specific. Even if you do all the reading, the quiz questions would ask abt things that were only briefly discussed. It wasn't a terrible class, but I would recommend not taking it if possible. His lectures weren't required - but some of the quizzes asked questions on the lecs. The texts - specifically Righteous mind - were interesting. I am selling Act of Congress text 5302638227

I do not understand how Professor Zaller has such high reviews. This class was extremely boring and quite frankly, corrupt. The professor curves his quizzes and exams (midterm and final, both curved). This being said, If you got a 95 on a midterm exam, that grade may be dropped to a 90 depending on how well other students performed on the exam; he only allows a certain number of A's. This being said, the reading/material was interesting, however, the quizzes weren't necessarily an examination of how well you know the material, but rather specific questions to see if or if not you read the material. Overall, if you are able, avoid!