Professor
Daniel Posner
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Most Helpful Review
Posner's Comparative Politics class is interesting. He goes over your run-of-the-mill comparative breadth (institutions, etc) and then moves on to globalization. He is well prepared and lectures very effectively. The course reader is quite expensive (~$80), but a breeze to read. On the tests, a simple definition and how it relates to the overarching ideas in the class would get you an A.
Posner's Comparative Politics class is interesting. He goes over your run-of-the-mill comparative breadth (institutions, etc) and then moves on to globalization. He is well prepared and lectures very effectively. The course reader is quite expensive (~$80), but a breeze to read. On the tests, a simple definition and how it relates to the overarching ideas in the class would get you an A.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - I felt like professor posner was really engaging with his lectures but my only qualm with this class is the variability in TA harshness. If you have a lenient TA who is willing to hear your arguments out and actually allows participation, you will likely do well. If that is not the case, you might be unfairly penalized and not get a grade that reflects your understanding of the material. tldr: the TA matters A LOT
Spring 2022 - I felt like professor posner was really engaging with his lectures but my only qualm with this class is the variability in TA harshness. If you have a lenient TA who is willing to hear your arguments out and actually allows participation, you will likely do well. If that is not the case, you might be unfairly penalized and not get a grade that reflects your understanding of the material. tldr: the TA matters A LOT
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - I would highly recommend this class! Posner is an engaging lecturer and TA Dan Harker was amazing, I would also recommend him. The class was very interesting and also pretty easy. The midterm paper was based on an interesting novel that wasn’t very long and was easy to connect to the course. The midterm and final exams were a lot of writing and definitely required studying but they were very fair. The professor sends out a list of terms to study and if you truly study them well and have attended class regularly then you can do well. It is important that you come to class because lectures are not recorded and the slides posted are mostly just pictures. Also a lot of the concepts he asks about on the final aren’t things you can find enough about online. I went to every lecture but didn’t do any readings and I did well, I just did the necessary readings that I needed to understand certain terms from the final study guide as part of my studying.
Winter 2025 - I would highly recommend this class! Posner is an engaging lecturer and TA Dan Harker was amazing, I would also recommend him. The class was very interesting and also pretty easy. The midterm paper was based on an interesting novel that wasn’t very long and was easy to connect to the course. The midterm and final exams were a lot of writing and definitely required studying but they were very fair. The professor sends out a list of terms to study and if you truly study them well and have attended class regularly then you can do well. It is important that you come to class because lectures are not recorded and the slides posted are mostly just pictures. Also a lot of the concepts he asks about on the final aren’t things you can find enough about online. I went to every lecture but didn’t do any readings and I did well, I just did the necessary readings that I needed to understand certain terms from the final study guide as part of my studying.
Most Helpful Review
167C Political Development One of the most interesting classes I have ever taken at UCLA. The midterm and finals are very clear with what is on them before, so you know what to study (and you actually have to know your stuff) Posner really wants you to learn. he is a great lecturer who picks great TAs (ruth was really helpful). the weekly questions keep you in the loop in case you miss a reading or two. TAKE THIS CLASS
167C Political Development One of the most interesting classes I have ever taken at UCLA. The midterm and finals are very clear with what is on them before, so you know what to study (and you actually have to know your stuff) Posner really wants you to learn. he is a great lecturer who picks great TAs (ruth was really helpful). the weekly questions keep you in the loop in case you miss a reading or two. TAKE THIS CLASS
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - Posner is the best professor I've had at UCLA. He's a very clear lecturer with a voice that does not make you fall asleep in class. Although the content is boring, mostly talking about ways of measuring poverty and solutions to eliminate it in the global South, Posner's clear explanations and no BS style made it actually interesting to go to lectures. It's always a full house with 150-200 students present, showing how good he is as a lecturer. Even though classes are not recorded, which could be a reason why students show up, I've had classes that are not recorded where 90% of students still don't show up because of the professor themself. Others have already covered the break down of the course, but I'd just like to say that Posner is an amazing lecturer who explains everything in the most plain English language, and is understanding of students by making the final optional/remote amidst the ICE protests. His exams are also easy as long as you go to 80% of the lectures and skim reads the intro+conclusion of most readings.
Spring 2025 - Posner is the best professor I've had at UCLA. He's a very clear lecturer with a voice that does not make you fall asleep in class. Although the content is boring, mostly talking about ways of measuring poverty and solutions to eliminate it in the global South, Posner's clear explanations and no BS style made it actually interesting to go to lectures. It's always a full house with 150-200 students present, showing how good he is as a lecturer. Even though classes are not recorded, which could be a reason why students show up, I've had classes that are not recorded where 90% of students still don't show up because of the professor themself. Others have already covered the break down of the course, but I'd just like to say that Posner is an amazing lecturer who explains everything in the most plain English language, and is understanding of students by making the final optional/remote amidst the ICE protests. His exams are also easy as long as you go to 80% of the lectures and skim reads the intro+conclusion of most readings.
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