I am a Foreign Affairs major and took this as a fourth year because I thought it would be an easy A. It was definitely much harder than my expectations and there were way too many readings for a 101 class. Pretty interesting though and he is a great lecturer (when you go). 2 midterms, one final (50% of grade).

Good class, great lectures.It gives a very structural approach to government, istitutions and the state, different from what you might expect, but still very good. I strongly recommend TA B. Yoder, very good at explaining mechanisms.

Walder is funny but the class is complex. Sometimes I would have no idea what was going on in class.

Lots of reading- would have done better if I had actually done them! Great lectures- highly enjoyable prof.!

Excessive course packet, but the material was fairly interesting. Waldner was a amicable enough guy and really gave you his own opinion/theories. The reading wasn't really necessary (there was a lot). midterm, 2 quizzes, paper, final.

Would not recommend this class unless you are truly interested in the material...Waldner's lectures, although funny at times, were kind of confusing. I found the class to be too hypothetical. I would highly recommend taking a discussion with Brandon Yoder, though, he's great.

Super enthusiastic professor! Waldner was hilarious and really made me want to go to class. It's a 101 class, but don't expect it to be easy. Lots and lots and lots of reading

Great speaker, I loved going to lectures. He uses some pretty amusing metaphors and comparasions that I actually found very helpful. WAY too much reading, I didn't do all of it though. To get an a you have to know and incorporate the readings alot. You can get a b by going to the lectures and taking really good notes, but without readings, it's impossible to get an a.

Great class and professor but too much reading. You can get away with not doing it though!

Great class! Waldner is an amazing public speaker and very fun to listen to. Some of his views are a bit one-sided, but all of the material is interesting nonetheless. MAKE SURE YOU GET A GOOD T.A. because they do ALL of the grading and are ultimately responsible for your overall grade. The concepts are somewhat abstract so it's important to get into a good discussion section to help reinforce the material. I would highly recommend this class to anybody looking to broaden their knowledge about early political systems and structures of states. Not a typical easy A 101 class.