Professor Min is incredible. I looked forward to every one of his lectures and the content of the class itself is really interesting. He posts all his slides beforehand but leaves a couple small blanks in them that you fill out during lecture.

Here's how grades are weighed:
30% - weekly open note, take home quizzes that stay open from Friday to Tuesday but do have a time limit (lowest grade is dropped)
20% - section participation (my TA gave full credit for each section as long as you showed up and answered/asked at least one question)
50% - 5-6 page analysis paper (5% is guaranteed simply by submitting a proposal by the deadline, regardless of how good that proposal is)

Quizzes are very straightforward and based off the slides & lectures. Also, you are guided through the paper bit by bit with each section so it's really not that intimidating! There is also a clear rubric provided for it, so you know exactly what you need to do in order to get a good grade.

The textbook wasn't even necessary in my opinion because Professor Min covered all of the content clearly and concisely during lecture. It's great to read for some extra context though.

Overall, I would highly recommend this class. It was very manageable for me and it was my first quarter at UCLA!

There were no tests in this class, just weekly quizzes which were online and open-note (no collaboration allowed). Super easy and most of the info you could find on the slides. Lectures were pretty helpful.

The big project was this essay worth 50% of our grade on a topic we didn't learn about. That was pretty stressful but I ended up receiving a 97 on it even though I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. The prompt was "What should the United States have done differently in Afghanistan, if anything?" and relating it to class concepts, and I felt overwhelmed because I knew nothing on the topic beforehand.

Professor Min is hands down one of the most clear and engaging lecturers I have encountered at UCLA so far. The format of the class includes a final paper but NO midterm and NO final. Weekly quizzes make up the rest of your grade, but they are very doable if you just go to the lectures. They are also open note/online so you really should really be able to do well on them. I would highly recommend this class if you are interested in politics or just wanting to take a fairly simple GE. You cannot go wrong with professor Min!

Recommend! I loved this class

Professor Min is the best lecturer I think I’ve ever had. He is able to explain complex stuff in a very simple and efficient way. Each lecture, we covered so many things, but in an hour and 15 minutes, we were able to comfortably cover everything. He is also so funny and seems like a very good person who is fair and understanding. During the midterm, I had a severe injury which caused me to be hospitalized, and once I emailed him, he was very compassionate and offered me an extra time to take the midterm that worked for me, and even the option to not take it at all and just add 20% of the whole grade the midterm made up to the final. Also, my TA was very nice, not the most helpful, but he tried; and I had no trouble studying on my own and answering my own questions with the help of notes and the internet.

This class is definitely a step up from high school AP Gov, but is TOTALLY achievable to do well if you just try a little. The class is made up of 20% Attendance and Participation, and if you actually contribute to sections, you will be totally fine getting 100% in that. Then there’s the midterm, which is also 20% and that was 40 MCQs and 5 FRQs (but you could pick any 3 to answer, which was so nice). The Analysis Paper made up 30% total (5% for the proposal, which is a light 5/5 if you try a little). The paper is based on something going on in the world, and you have to argue a side. It’s a college-level paper, but as long as you spend the time researching and can write a strong argument, this is fine too. The final is 30% and is either all MCQs or a couple of FRQs too, as long as you study, you’ll be fine. Also, Professor Min usually will be nice and bump up everyone’s grade by about 2% which is so nice of him.

Overall, I highly recommend this class to anyone, even if you haven’t taken much government before. It’s super interesting, and as long as you try a little, you’ll get an A.

Last thing, I got 100% on the final without reading the textbook, just have a good system for taking notes.

I absolutely loved this class. The professor is a fantastic lecturer and the units were super interesting (at least for someone who loves political science). His slides are very clear and so are his explanations. I went to class every time and took diligent notes. He posts the recording and slides! I had an online quiz every week. If you actually understand the topic, the quizzes will be fine. I usually got a 13-15/15. I never once read the textbook. We had one big paper that was worth 50% of our grade. I worked very, very hard on it and got a 90%. I think an A in this class is very feasible if you put in the work.

Professor Min was such a straightforward and clear lecturer which made the class super easy to study for and understand. All lectures are recorded and slides are on canvas which is all you really needed to study for the midterm and final. Although there is a textbook, it really just repeats the same things that Dr. Min says in class so there is not any need to read it. I, and many other students alike, were reading the first few chapters of the textbook but then realized it wasn't necessary.

Along with a midterm and final, there was an essay that goes into the grade book as well. It was quite challenging but our TAs helped us a lot through the process.

This class mostly depends on your TA. Professor Min only has a few office hour slots so speaking to your TA is essential to getting help.

That being said, Sara Elbanna is the worst TA--our whole class agreed. She went into lectures unprepared then gave everyone a bad grade on section even if you participated multiple times and attended every course. She would curse in class all the time and made you feel dumb even if she didn't know the answer herself or was literally just looking it up. She never had her camera on in office hours and she acted superior even though she stumbled on her words so many times during section. She never responded to emails and always had improper responses when/if she did. If you get her for any Poli Sci class, switch sections.

As for the class, it's imperative you memorize every single thing Professor Min says or else you won't know many answers on the tests. Many of his questions are random sentences or trivia he mentions once, even if it's not related to bolded terms or main concepts. He is a knowledgable, entertaining professor though and you can tell he really cares about his students and their learning.

Don't let these reviews fool you. This class was absolutely a breeze, especially if you aren't familiar with political science at all. My one piece of advice would be to go to all the lectures in person as that is the easiest way to absorb the material, compared to watching the recorded lectures which aren't as engaging. The bolded terms on the slides are the most important material that you need to know, and Professor Min bases his exams off of those terms. As for the rest of the material on the slides, that won't matter as much. The paper was also fairly easy and I believe most people received a good score, just make sure you follow the rubric exactly. DO NOT READ THE TEXTBOOK IT IS A WASTE OF TIME. Overall 10/10, low-stress class. :)

Min was honestly a solid lecturer and pretty funny and engaging. I learned a lot from this class, and it is recorded too!

The one caveat, though, is that it is not a free A. While I did well on the midterm and final, getting a 90 and above, it wasn't enough to combat my EVIL TA, who docked me down on participation, which ultimately cost me the A.

Min did give 2-point curves to the midterm/final so that the class average was 85% and above, but don't count on it, and always try to do better.

Other than that, you should definitely take this class with Min, but be prepared for conceptual overloads each week, and just try to use logic/common sense.

The grading scheme is
20% mandatory section attendance/participation
20% midterm
25% analysis paper
5% analysis proposal (5 free points...)
30% final (mostly content after midterm, some before)

Overall pretty decent class. I took this class as a GE with no knowledge of political science but still managed to do well. The professor is a very cool and funny person and generally the workload for the class is not that much. There's no homework, just one midterm, one paper, and the final exam. The paper definitely takes a lot of time to complete but go to office hours with the TAs and you should be fine. For the tests, there is an insane amount of content to memorize which is the main aspect of what makes this class a bit hard as a non-political science student but I still managed to get by with an A- and A on each test. PROFESSOR MIN SAW THAT THE TEST AVERAGE WAS LOWER THAN EXPECTED FOR BOTH TESTS SO HE ADDED A FEW EXTRA POINTS TO HELP. HES A REALLY NICE PERSON. Overall not too hard of a GE but definitely study a lot for the tests