Oh man this class was the best. I enrolled in it as a 4th class initially because it was one of the only ps upperdivs come second pass and because the grade distribution looked great (tbh I didn't even know what political economy of development meant). I was not expecting the class to be so academically rewarding. Prof Posner is an engaging lecturer who clearly an expert in his field and ready to body any questions people threw at him mid lecture. You have to take pretty extensive notes because his slides aren't very informative (just pictures) so make sure you go to class or have a good note taking friend. My TA was fantastic and set the bar high right out of the gate which made discussions in section really interesting. The class was a lot of work and the midterm and final were difficult in that they required you to retain a lot of info but I don't think I've learned more from a class at UCLA than this one. TLDR: take this class if you want to learn more about the world and feel educated, but be prepared to work. Posner is great and so are his TAs; highly recommend

Oh man this class was the best. I enrolled in it as a 4th class initially because it was one of the only ps upperdivs come second pass and because the grade distribution looked great (tbh I didn't even know what political economy of development meant). I was not expecting the class to be so academically rewarding. Prof Posner is an engaging lecturer who clearly an expert in his field and ready to body any questions people threw at him mid lecture. You have to take pretty extensive notes because his slides aren't very informative (just pictures) so make sure you go to class or have a good note taking friend. My TA was fantastic and set the bar high right out of the gate which made discussions in section really interesting. The class was a lot of work and the midterm and final were difficult in that they required you to retain a lot of info but I don't think I've learned more from a class at UCLA than this one. TLDR: take this class if you want to learn more about the world and feel educated, but be prepared to work. Posner is great and so are his TAs; highly recommend

This is definitely a class that's easy to do well in. I didn't do any of the readings (there's a ton of them each week and they really vary in quality and relevance), but I took good notes in lecture (you really have to listen since his slides are just pictures and graphs) and got an A. Posner addresses interesting ideas and concepts but I found his lecture style to be repetitive and pretty wishy-washy. He doesn't take a stance on most things and I would say greatly oversimplifies a lot without much explanation.

Daniel Posner is awesome. I actually didn't want to take his class when I enrolled because I am not a fan of comparative politics, but the material was enlightening and Posner really knows his stuff. He has contributed a lot to the literature on much of what is discussed in the course, and did a good job organizing the class generally. His slides are just charts and graphs and pictures, which can be annoying if you take bad notes. But the studies he discusses in class are really interesting. Always approachable before and after class. For what it is worth, he also wore cool blazers to class on occasion.

The exams are really not that bad if you go to class and at least skim the readings. He will pull ID terms from the readings, so just going to class isn't going to cut it. As for my TA, she did a good job bringing key ideas from his lectures and readings into a condensed summary. The take-home midterm was doable. The final exam was a little much just because it also included short and long answer questions, but all-in-all not an insurmountable challenge.

Posner is great. This class isn't as interesting as his Africa class - perhaps I just find the topic somewhat dry - but it's an important one to take. Exams are reasonable.

An excellent professor and lecturer, makes complex ideas easily understood. You must attend every lecture as there is a ton of information, but it is manageable

Posner is an amazing professor and I'm very glad I took him. It is not an easy class - you must show up and take thorough notes. He does not podcast and the slides are just statistics and images, which won't make any sense without the context of the lecture. If you put in the work, you will learn so much.