This was my last political science class needed and I felt it was a decent way to go out. The class has three homework assignments where you research a congressperson/committee. Then you have a midterm and final along with a congressional simulation where you pretend to be a US senator through legislation/social media/floor debates/a final campaign ad and more. Its a very fair class and although I barely attended because of my jobs, I still got a good grade and learned a lot.

This class was 3 homework assignments, the Congress simulation, 7 quizzes, the midterm, and the final. This seems like a lot, but it wasn't! Pretty manageable even with the simulation where I had a lot of extra work since I took on a leadership position within the "Senate". It was pretty fun participating because it led to more interaction between students. The homeworks were fine and I didn't stress over them too much! The midterm and final were take-home and pretty doable!

Good professor with very clear, detailed slides that he uploads after every lecture. Midterm and Final format includes a long essay, some short answers, and some multiple choice, but as long as you pay attention in lecture and read parts of the textbook, this class is not that difficult. Selling the required textbook for this class $35 @*************

Good Class.

Grading is interesting in that it reminded me a bit of high school -- less emphasis on exams, more emphasis on various "assignments" spaced out throughout the quarter. One of the assignments is a "congressional simulation" in which people make speeches, propose bills, etc. in front of the entire class. In my opinion, some people took this way, way too seriously and it kind of ruined it for others (swearing, arguing, one-uping people by making actual social media profiles of themselves as "congressmen"). I'm assuming there are people who do this every quarter.

Perris is a great lecturer. Slides are super clear, no BS, he has clearly put a lot of thought into the course. Final exam and midterm were exceptionally straightforward, online, and open note.

In conclusion, this class is unlike normal Pol Sci courses in that your grade isn't based on just a midterm and final. Your grade in this class is based on a variety of quizzes, homework assignments (ie. short papers), your "simulation" participation, a small project, and 2 exams -- all of which are graded very fairly. If that sounds good to you, take this class. However, if you don't like the idea of constantly checking in/ participating in one course (ie. you prefer taking 2 tests and getting them over with), then it may be a good idea to avoid this.

I enjoyed taking this course with Professor Ajax. His courses always seem to be organized and manageable. I would recommend taking his courses for this class and Congress. If he was teaching other courses at UCLA, I would also take them. This class required a polling group assignment, which was fun to complete with a team and present our research and findings. He is a caring professor and will answer in a timely manner to emails and will go out of his way to schedule office hours with students that are unable to come to his regular office hours. His guidance and answering questions have always been helpful. I recommend taking this course!

I thought this was an extremely engaging and worthwhile class. Assignments were all reasonable, especially given that there were no tests. The grade consisted of a few weekly writing assignments (2-3 pg) and then a group polling project that was pretty easy. He cares a lot and shows it while also making the subject extremely accessible.