This course would better be titled "Introduction to Statistics" than "Introduction to Comparative Politics". Waldner focuses heavily on the statistical approach to comparative politics, and the course didn't actually get interesting until the last few weeks. Though I got an A- in this course and diligently read and attended every lecture, friends who never even looked at the articles achieved similar grades. The discussion sections are particularly useless, as my TA only regurgitated the previous lectures that week. All in all Waldner is a nice guy, but this class simply wasn't what I expected and introductory comparative politics class to be.

Professor Waldner is a great teacher, but the course itself is not what I expected. I went into this class thinking we would learn more about modern democracy and politics, but a good amount of the class is spent on the foundations of a nation and nation building. Waldner's lectures are sometimes jumbled and vague, but I had Olyvia who was a great TA that really helped to clarify the material. As far as actual class work, there's lots of dense, unnecessary reading, five homework assignments that you have to go to the library to do, two pretty easy midterms, and a final. I didn't love or hate the class, but I wish there hadn't been so much reading. The exciting material doesn't really begin until after the first midterm, so beware.

Professor Waldner is AWESOME! He makes a introductory class interesting and enjoyable. Readings could be a little bit time consuming, and not all the materials are fully discussed in lecture or discussion.

This is one of the easiest politics classes I've taken. You do not need to do the readings to do well. I did not read a single article and still got a B+. Pay attention in lecture and the exams are easy. The class is based on 3 exams.

Waldner is a great lecturer

Organize these comments by "lowest rating" and they all will give you the most accurate feedback of the class. If you hate dreading going to a lecture, avoid this at all costs. You will not like politics after this; an upper level PLCP,PLIR,PLAP,PLPT would be much easier.

This class was one of my favorites. The material is a little dull at the beginning of the semester, but it really picks up by the end. Waldner covers a lot of basics which makes it easy to understand. He also brings in a lot of examples that make it more engaging than just reading off slides. The exams are not difficult, the TAs are just looking to see that you paid attention during class. Waldner is also a very nice and approachable professor and he really loves to talk to students. I highly recommend this class; it is so applicable in any class you take in the politics or history department. Also Bob is the TA I recommend.

Waldner is a good professor and his lectures are pretty interesting, although there's a lot of just reading off of the power point. The course itself involves comparing political structures in different countries and there's also a significant amount of data analysis. There are two exams and a final which are all short answer/essay questions. As long as you do the readings and incorporate as many case studies into your essays, you will end up with a decent grade (as in B to A- range), but it's still pretty hard to get the A.

Very enjoyable class. It is challenging!

PLCP 1010 is an enjoyable course, especially if you keep an open mind in the class. It's more based in theory than you'd expect, but Waldner does a good job of getting the information across in an understandable and usually funny way. Midterms are very open-ended which is refreshing.