Professor Branstetter is an amazing person and professor. The content has been switched from previous quarters but is very interesting and involves a lot of philosophical questions. The grade is all points based. You get 3 points per section you attend (30 points total) and then 7 points a week (10 of them) for a one-page (single-spaced) essay. You are allowed to submit the essay as many times as you need to get the grade you want and they are encouraged to be submitted every week, but are technically not required to submit it until finals week. However, the weekly readings are very chunky (sometimes over 200ish pages). He has a zoom and a recorded option and does not take lecture attendance. Overall, this class is one of the best Poli Sci lower divs and a really easy GE. Enrollment for this class is super hard to get, but worth it to keep trying (he sometimes will give out PTEs depending on how the department is feeling).

Branstetter is one of the most phenomenal lecturers at UCLA. I think everyone, regardless of major, should take this course at some point in their lives because he truly challenges all of your preconceived notions of society, free will, and human behavior. He breaks down the readings in a way that anyone could understand and find interesting. I appreciated how reasonable the workload was, especially for a political theory class. More poli sci classes should adopt this structure!
My critique of this class is that it spent 10 weeks identifying problems in society and human nature but it did not provide any solutions. It was SO difficult to apply the content because it seemed like there was nothing that could be done. It felt a little depressing. I wish this class included actionable steps or policy implications to make this content more concrete.

10/10 class, absolutely would take it again. Take this class if you have the option to.
Professor Branstetter is an incredible lecturer; he makes the most boring and convoluted concepts seem incredibly simple and fun. He is a great teacher and will 100% make every student think twice about their current perceptions and daily actions. This is a class that is not only extremely easy to do well in, but intriguing. Both the professor and my TA (Shae Himmelberger) make the learning environment very welcoming with little embarrassment if you get a question wrong. I cannot tell you how much I loved this class. I will gladly take any class with either Professor Branstetter or TA Shae Himmelberger, no matter if it's the most boring subject matter.
Grade distribution: 30% sections (10 sections, each worth 10 points) and 70% weekly essays (10 essays, each worth 7 points)
Sections are mandatory and you cannot be more than five minutes late. However, I believe if you have a valid excuse (funeral, illness, etc.) you can make them up, they are very understanding.
Essays are single-spaced, 1-2 pages, about a weekly question. You get a partner for them, one that is in your section. However, my partner and I just took turns writing the essays. A lot of the reading is long and boring, but Shae and Professor makes it extremely easy to understand and write an essay on. The essay is NOT SUMMARIZING THE READING! The question will be like 'Are you normal?' or 'Does your moral conduct matter for politics?' and you need to quote the readings to support your argument. The essays are graded on a 7 point scale, with anything less than a 7 receiving feedback on how to improve it. You can then resubmit it as many times as you want to get a 100%.
Grading scale:
A+ 97-100

branstetter is the hardest professor to get, and that just says everything about him. political theory is hard to understand, but branstetter breaks it down in such a way that it feels like you are having such a fun conversation with him. he is so passionate about the readings, and the way he teaches makes you want to be so passionate about them as well. his class was only 2 papers, and they are fun prompts, too. i will say they feel fairly long (4-5 pages SINGLE SPACED), and because it is theory, it can be hard to get the ball rolling. once you do though, you just gotta yap over and over (hence it feeling a bit long). THE BEST PART: you get 100% on both as long as you show you really put thought in the papers. because the prompts are fun, you actually enjoy writing them a bit, so it is nearly impossible to NOT get an A. the point of this, as branstetter puts it, is that grades weigh down on us and so we often worry about writing what the grader wants to hear and not what we really think. so by removing the looming threat of a grade, we get our true thoughts out unrestrictred. it's the best philosophy ever for a prof to have. luv him, wish his classes would stop filling up so fast so i could have a chance to take him every quarter fr.

I LOVED THIS CLASS!! HE IS AN AMAZING PROFESSOR!!! I WOULD DEF TAKE THIS COURSE AGAIN IF I COULD

There's a reason why Branstetter's classes fill up so quickly. Branstetter is a passionate, light-hearted, and overall very engaging lecturer. He is very academically progressive, understanding the cost of textbooks and the meaninglessness of grades, making for a very unique and easy grading system.

It was a bit writing intensive. There were two 4-5 single spaced papers (~10 page double-spaced papers). Don't let this deter you, however. While the topics were very open (which to some people may make it difficult), I thought the topics were interesting. Furthermore, they are graded on COMPLETION and REVISION. Aka as long as you turn in a relevant 10 page paper you get a B, revise if after a TA leaves comments, and you get an A+. It is ridiculously easy to pass.

There is one complaint I have with him, however. Besides being very academically progressive, he is politically very progressive. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, however, he often makes either subtle or non-subtle remarks against conservative values. One time, he subtly shamed people who don't donate anything to impoverished communities. So, yeah. If you're conservative you may feel uncomfortable unfortunately.

Professor Branstetter is probably one of my favorite professors I have had at UCLA so far. He genuinely cares about his students and stresses the fact that placing such a high importance on grades can create a stressful culture in college, and that he cares more about making sure we engage with the course content and share our honest ideas. If you have the chance to take a class with him, do it! You will not regret it. The class grade was entirely structured around 2 papers (4-5 pages single spaced) on interesting and mostly open ended topics. By submitting your papers you automatically receive a B+, and by making substantial revisions on your papers you receive an A. Also, we got to watch the Barbie movie in class and discuss. Would recommend to anyone!

This is one of my favorite classes I have taken at UCLA. John is such a nice person and genuinely cares so much about his students. The classes are engaging, and the workload is super manageable. There are also no tests which is a huge bonus.

Professor Branstetter is by far the best professor I have had at UCLA. He is so engaging and passionate about political theory that it inspires his students, even in a subject which many would consider dry. He is also extremely helpful in office hours and, because your grade in this class is composed of 3 essays that your TA grades, it never hurts to go over your essay with him if you're not happy with your grade because he's not averse to bumping you up a few points if he feels that you deserve it.

This was the best (and easiest) GE I have taken at UCLA.
Grading scheme = 10% discussion, and 3, 3-4 page essays (30% each).

There is a lot of reading assigned for this class, but I only really read one of the assignments to its full extent. Each essay only requires two of the readings each (I only used one reading for the last essay).
You don't really need to go to lecture, as it is not super relevant to writing a good paper, but if you are confused with the material, it may help.

I went to every lecture because Branstetter is such a personable, and engaging guy who is clearly passionate about the subject matter and his students' success.

Your TA does the grading, so who you have matters. My TA (Kris) was an extremely cool and thoughtful guy, who gave good feedback and graded on the easier side.
we were given 2% extra credit for doing the evaluations, which bumped my grade up. Clutch.

10/10 would recommend to a friend.