I really enjoyed this class! Tausanovitch isn't the most engaging lecturer, but the topics he covered were super interesting and you can tell he is very knowledgable about what he's talking about. Although a lot of info from the first half of class was a repeat of AP US Gov, I liked how in the second half of the class he went into different topics like voter participation, public opinion, campaigning, and political polarization, and I enjoyed how he incorporated real-world examples. Grading scheme consisted of a midterm and final exam in person, one paper, and participation in weekly discussion. Each exam had 5 multiple choice questions, 3 definition/term questions, 3-4 short answer questions, and one essay question. Exams themselves were very fair and you will do well if you paid attention in class and understand the concepts. He gives a list of all the possible terms for the definition part, so if you study those then you will likely do well on the entire exam, because all the terms relate to key concepts. I had Jessica as a TA and she was great at clarifying points made in lecture. Overall, the class is pretty easy if you put in minimal effort, and I would take a class with him again.

Not a bad class to take at all if you want to satisfy either your pre-political science major requirement or GE requirement, especially if you have interest and some knowledge about American politics. Professor Tausanovitch is also a straightforward and clear lecturer. He uses slides and is pretty passionate about what he teaches. In terms of grading, there were: Discussion Participation 20%, Midterm 20%, One Paper 20%, and Final 40%. I took AP Gov back in high school so I got through the class without doing any of the weekly readings alright. Midterms and finals were mix of multiple choices, short answers, and one long essay.

either focus more on the content in the textbook or dont require us to read the textbook lol,

Very engaging class and pretty relaxed for a GE. Grade is pretty evenly divided between midterm, one essay, the final, and participation in your discussion section. Not hard to succeed if you have prior knowledge of government. Very similar content to AP Gov.

I took this class as major prep and mostly enjoyed it. While the lectures can get boring, Professor Tausanovitch is extremely knowledgeable and the TAs were helpful. This class was harder than expected for me but pretty easy for most people that took AP Gov. The midterm, final, and one major paper make up almost the whole grade and while none of them are too difficult you pretty much need an A on at least 2/3 to get an A overall. Workload-wise this class was light and overall interesting

I really enjoyed this class! I found the content very relevant and engaging and didn't have trouble keeping up with the readings at all. There is very little work to do other than the readings and they could be a rather boring and sometimes harder to understand, but just getting through them made tests and assignments much easier. I went into this having done AP Comp Gov previously, but I didn't think you need much background in politics considering that you go every branch of government pretty in depth. One thing I would say however is the slides are kinda disorganized section wise and don't provide a lot of guide for review considering how little text is on there. So take good notes!

Overall, I found this class to be really easy and the grading to be extremely lenient. For someone that actually did the readings, I will say that the lecture readings were completely useless as they weren't really tied to the lecture (sometimes he wont even mention them) and are not important for the midterm or final. If you took AP gov or an equivalent government course, I would just focus on taking note of the lecture slides to get you through exams (if you haven't taken a gov course before, you might want to consider reading the textbook, but the content is fairly easy for the most part). As for the section readings, I would encourage to read these because you are quizzed on them during discussion (only 3 questions each / 2% of the grade). The section readings were not very interesting, but I found them to get better as the class goes on (more because I figured out what information to avoid reading and what to be more attentive to). In terms of the 5 page essay assigned, the graders are very nice (the mean was like a 93 with the lowest score being a 78) and you could totally do it in a day and still expect a good grade as long as you put some type of effort into it. The midterm and final were really easy (a lot of common sense tbh) and are easy to get good grades on as long as you study the lecture slides. The lectures for the most part are pretty boring. Tausanovitch is extremely qualified in his field, although is not very engaging-would tend to sleep through some lectures. Overall, I found this to a good introductory POLI SCI course and would strongly encourage others to take it for a pre req or GE.

Professor Tausanovitch is very knowledgable and qualified and it is evident in his lectures. His slides are really basic and simple but he is a very interesting lecturer to me. The course exams are very well organized and he has a study guide for the midterm that helped me prepare.

Professor Tausanovitch is great, he posts his lecture slides on BruinLearn alongside his recordings of class. This class is very interesting and informative for any Poli Sci majors or anyone who simply wants to learn more about American politics and government.
If you have taken AP US Government it will make this class substantially easier as it is almost identical but simply digs deeper into certain topics. In general this class was not difficult, there are weekly readings with weekly quizzes in the attendance mandatory discussions. Besides this there is only one essay which is not due until late November.
The midterm and final for this class is analytically heavy, it takes critical thinking alongside knowledge to pass, simply studying the lecture slides is not enough as the test asks you to apply your knowledge of American politics in different ways. The midterm is made up of a short MCQ, identification, SAQ, and timed essay, the final is just the same except with a few more questions.
I highly enjoyed this class and believe it is great for anyone who can put in a little more work to apply what you learn in a more critical way.

not the most interesting class because it was mostly a repeat of ap gov, BUT easy nonetheless. even if you do not have a background, you can get by with an A+. my intnl friend was so scared of failing that she P/NP the class, but she got a 98%. Prof is very well-structured, midterm and finals are always the same layout and the study guides are fairly helpful. There is also a paper that is easily graded as well, dependent on your TA. Sections are so very helpful, again depending on your TA and mine was pretty great. very easy for poli sci majors and for a ge.