This class was definitely one of the more challenging Poli Sci classes I've taken at UCLA. It has an extremely heavy reading load, and he gives weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) quizzes on the smallest details. If you haven't done the readings, they're basically impossible to pass. One of the books he assigned (The Righteous Mind) was very interesting, but the second assigned book just seemed tedious. Overall, take this class if you're willing to read over 300 + pages per week. If you do what you're asked, you can get the A.

PS: SELLING COURSE READER AT A CHEAPER PRICE.
Contact me at: +4243624625

Professor Zaller has a dry and sometimes scathing sense of humor which is the best part about his endless, poorly structured lectures. The readings are actually pretty interesting, but in his attempt to engage the 200+ person class, he goes on rabbit trails and ends up only talking about relevant material for a very short period of time. The readings are manageable but definitely leave time to read them relatively closely or you might as well not even bother. Zaller's class is straightforward but poorly organized and often boring and dominated by tangents. In fairness, you will learn some really interesting information about political parties, but be prepared to be irritated by the class often and be ready to dedicate large chunks of time to the material.

This class was A LOT of work, the other reviews aren't lying when they say its around 200 pages of a reading for each lecture. You will have to do the reading for the quizzes the professor gives in the beginning of lecture. He says that the quizzes are incredibly easy, but they require a pretty in depth reading. I did the reading each time but that wasn't enough. I often had to reread it, study it, and go over with other students for every quiz (which is a lot of work when you have a quiz every sing week and sometimes two). The midterm and finals were not hard though, it was just an essay prompt where you could bring in a cheat sheet version and just summarize everything you've learned so far. The lectures are posted online but remember you have to take quizzes so you have to go to lecture most of the times, at least in the beginning. Some lectures were honestly painful to sit through he often would get fixated on one comment that was hardly relevant to the lecture, reading, etc. For instance at one point I asked if we could deviate from the comment a study had used "crack baby" because I didn't understand a separate part of the reading and he refused to even let me ask my question because he wanted to discuss why somebody would use that phrase for over an hour. For reference the reading was largely just to point out there is extremes on both the left and right. Anyway, I digress. The class is a LOT of work but an A is possible. He offers extra credit make sure to do them. I am selling the course reader for cheaper than it is in Westwood text me at 559-287-9333 or email me at kkportillo@gmail.com

He is bar none the most hypocritical professor I ever had at UCLA. He makes a point about wanting his tests and quizzes to be easy and then goes and makes them very difficult. He requires ~150 pages of reading before EVERY class (sometimes entire books between a monday and a wednesday) and asks about minute details on the quizzes as if you were somehow able to memorize all those 150 pages. He's boring, INCREDIBLY politically biased, and the hardest professor I ever had. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

===ATTENTION===
A) you're a hardworking, studious student; you are able to read up 220 pages for a week (avrg 90 pg); you actually want to learn useful stuff?
then, Take this class!
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B) You want an easy class? No hablo English? Bad study skills? Having other hard classes?
do yourself a favor and look for another class, unless you want a bad grade.
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If you're a PoliSci major, you know our classes are on average much heavier than Sociology or History. You got into UCLA, then you must have good study skills.
This class has a lot of readings and they will be quizzed EVERY week.
There is a course reading $65, you can buy used from former students tho
There are two books, you can find on kindle
Slides and podcasts are online, but don't rely on slides!
Office Hours are usually empty, take advantage!
Zaller is actually a nice guy and would explain things to you if you ask him
there are only a few ECs, but he might change his mind, so don't count on it.
He drops the lowest quiz and there'll be make up .
Overall, I liked the class, but I had to juggle around, and give up LIFE to manage 4 heavy classes, while working.

Selling the course reader for this class Cheaper than in Westwood. Text me at 3104750742

Zaller is one of the few professors in the department who seems to give a damn about undergraduates - it's worth taking the class just for that. He invites everyone to his office hours, and you should take him up on it.

The class itself is very interesting to anyone who's engaged with the material. There's a heavy reading load (and weekly reading quizzes, which are easy if you read), but it's worthwhile. Exams are in-class essays, which were very reasonable.

This class involves ALOT of reading, but thankfully you can get most of the books on audible and get the information you need for the quizzes and tests. Lecture itself is pointless unless its a quiz day

This class has a heavy workload of reading. Expect to read at least 80-100 pages weekly, and some weeks are more intensive. However, the reading materials are very interesting and I actually kept alot of the articles and the books we had to read. So although there is ALOT of reading, the literature is very interesting. Zaller's lecture is dry and boring, and he knows it. But he is always willing to help in office hours.

Quizes: There is a quiz every other week or so. Based entirely on the reading. The quizes will test your ability to read the fine detail of the material, not just the fact that you skimmed it.

Midterm/final: In-class essay. This was challenging but if you are well-read and understand the material you will do fine. Make sure to write a really clean essay.

So here's the deal -- this is a fantastic class, and assuming you engage the material, you will leave with incredible insight into the electoral process. What you should understand is that his weekly readings are not jokes: you WILL be tested on each one, and those quiz scores will add up, so you MUST take them seriously. They can get long, but if you do them (and really, you need to understand what you're reading) you'll kill his weekly quizzes.

Mid term and final are in class written exams. Very fair grading format, but you must be prepared going in because it can be hard to combine all the bits of information you have available to you.

He's one of the few professors who really, and I mean really, cares about his students. It was unbelievable; a class of 200 students, and he knew everyone that took the time to visit his office hours by name. He also tries hard to help students with little boosts here and there if they're seriously struggling (not something you should count on, but he has done this before, and I'm mentioning this in passing to show that he really is a nice man).

So to sum, he will challenge you with the readings (100-200 pages a week) -- readings which, if you truly do, will provide unbelievable insight into the field, and more importantly help you ace your quizzes. I cannot recommend this class enough, because if you have a decent work ethic, you'll just get so much out of it.