DO NOT TAKE this class if you want an A. I got an 89 on every midterm and final and ended with a B+. I don't think the TA read any of my work --- I spent a ridiculous amount of time studying. I enjoyed Waldner's class at the beginning, but over time everything seemed so arbitrary.

Wouldn't take the class if you are just looking for a random class to take. Really hard to get an A. I put in a ton of work and barely got an A-.

As a first year, this class was daunting, and easily the most difficult I took during my first semester. However, it was incredibly rewarding and revitalized my interest in politics. Professor Waldner is absolutely brilliant, and incredibly engaging during lecture. He will elaborate upon the more important readings during class, so keep note of that for the exams. It is a good idea to write down all of the words on the slides during class, as well as filling in with Waldner's commentary--but be warned, your fingers will be tired from typing so much after this class. The reading is really heavy for a 1010 course, but not to an overwhelming extent. Waldner will say that the 90% weight on exams on the final grade is common throughout the Politics department, but that has not been true in the other politics classes I've taken, and that was a negative aspect of the course. If you're anxious about the heavy weight of the exams, be sure to take advantage of office hours. Waldner helps you to identify what is confusing, and works through it with you while empowering you. You will be much more likely to do well in the course if you take advantage of these opportunities.

Overall, this class was very fair and comprehensive for an introductory course. Definitely go to lecture as Waldner does not post his slides and type down every single word that is on his slides (will help you for the midterms and the final). Only read the readings using his lecture guides as he tells you what concepts are important. Discussion sections are super helpful for quick summaries of the readings.

#tCFF23

I hated this class. The instructor was fun, and engaging in lecture, but I could not retain anything. He talks in circles, speaks about a ton of concepts we don't need to know for the class so it's hard to differentiate what we actually need to know or not. Insane amount of reading which is boring and incomprehensible. Only 3 exams make up the entire grading of the class and you don't know how to take any of them.

Great lectures and lecturer. The course covers a lot of difficult content, especially for an intro course. But, Waldner explains it all well (although sometimes at lightning speed --- slides are uploaded though so this isn't anything to worry about really). There is definitely a lot of reading, and you do need to do it to understand the course IMO. That said, the grading is easy because all of the tests are take-home and open book.

This is a tricky class, especially as a first year. The readings are dense, and it's tough to grasp the content if you aren't on top of the readings for every class. However, once you figure out how to break down the main points of each reading/lecture, this class does become incredibly interesting. Somehow it manages to be both very specific and broad (focusing on individual research studies and broad theories of democratic/economic development), which is uniquely overwhelming and fascinating. If you are not interested in broad questions of democratization and political development, this class is not for you. I was certainly challenged, but if you have the willpower to put in the work the content eventually clicks. Professor Waldner is an engaging lecturer, but it can be difficult to navigate his text-dense slides. The TAs helped a lot, and so did the lecture guides the professor posted.

Waldner was a phenomenal professor. Before I signed up for the class I saw ratings that made me a bit nervous about how difficult he would be about grades, but I am so glad I took the class. I was never surprised by anything he put on a test — he would always make sure to review everything we needed to know at his review sessions before each exam.

Waldner is a great professor and makes the classes enjoyable. His lectures are jam packed with info and he moves pretty fast so it can be easy to get lost if you aren't paying attention. There are a lot of assigned readings - you don't need to do every reading, but DO the readings he references in class because they will be on exams. If you're genuinely interested in the material, you'll enjoy the class.

This class was way harder than I was expecting as an intro to comparative politics course. The first part of the course is mainly focused on hypothesis testing and causal inferences, so don't be surprised if you don't get to actual comparative politics until halfway through the semester. I would highly recommend doing the readings because most of the exams you will need to remember what each reading was about and pull out specific ideas and concepts that will be hard to remember if you don't have detailed notes. Waldner also goes over the readings in class and breaks them down because they can be fairly dense, and your TA will help you understand them as well. Exams were essay based, and I found it hard to complete the midterms in time, but the final was easier to manage pacing, although it was definitely harder than the midterms. Somehow I managed to finish with an A in the class, but I honestly wouldn't recommend this class. If you can do well in this class you might as well take a 3000 level politics class. #tCFfall22