David Mcgrath

15% Lecture Attendance (Random Pop Quizzes), 15% Seminar Attendance, 20% Midterm 1, 20% Midterm 2, 30% Final; Tests have super obscure questions that are graded really weirdly, based on a lot of memorization of McGrath's lecture notes, specific examples/studies McGrath either goes over or mentions in lecture, and assigned readings for the week.

Coming into this course with little to no political science background, I thought that this class was going to be based on a more liberal-arts approach to political science. However, Dr. McGrath's entire focus during this course is on game theory and applying games/situations to the occasional example of American politics. Other than that, it's applying obscure concepts that are never really gone over in-depth in class (other than Dr. McGrath's notes, which he does not post) on the exams. Studying for the exams wasn't too bad; McGrath gives us a study guide and uploads his slides, but the slides don't have as much information as he shares in lecture. The exams themselves ask really enigmatic questions that you never know the exact right answer to, or ask you to memorize the summary of the assigned readings. Definitely a lot more than I was expecting, and difficult. By the end of the course, I don't really think I have a grasp on much about American politics or game theory, just some of the few overarching concepts that managed to stick with me. This course's saving grace was my incredible TA, who though sometimes was just as confused as us, made sure to learn all of the models that McGrath presented in lecture and teach it to us in more digestable chunks!!

Weekly readings for class and discussion 2 midterms 1 final and random in class quizzes for participation only

Professor McGrath’s lectures were sometimes hard to follow in class because the slides didn’t have a lot of detail, and with all the game theory he covered, I often felt lost. That being said, this does not mean the class itself is bad. Once I went back and reviewed the lecture slides on my own (which I do wish he posted earlier instead of right before midterms), I started to really understand the game theory and the lectures overall. He did once explain prisoners dilemma through this chocolate game on whether you should defect or cooperate (that was fun!) Having a good TA and doing your own review helps a lot. The game theory is actually pretty fun once you study it and play around with the concepts. The math is super basic, you don’t have to actually do math, you just need to understand the logic. The tests were pretty fair if you studied the slides and did the readings. The textbook is honestly kind of pointless if you already know basic government facts; it’s really only helpful for clarifying terms. Just show up to class, do the quizzes, and keep up with the slides and readings, and you’ll be fine. The exams were a fair reflection of the material covered.

The course grading was based on eight surprise in-class quizzes worth 15%, two midterms worth 20% each, a final exam worth 30%, and recitation participation worth 15%. While the assigned readings were actually very interesting, the professor rarely discussed them in lecture, which felt like a missed opportunity to engage more deeply with the material.

I took this class to fulfill the political science requirement, as I am considering American Politics as my primary subfield. The course itself was fine, but there was nothing particularly compelling about it. Much of the material was presented in monotonous academic jargon, which would have been especially difficult to follow if this were someone’s first political science class. The class focused heavily on theory and game models rather than contemporary issues or practical applications. The lecture format was fairly unengaging, consisting largely of the professor reading directly from the slides without offering much additional explanation or context. At times, important information was delivered verbally but not included on the slides, which made it harder to keep track of key points. While the class was relatively fine overall, it felt underwhelming in terms of capturing the breadth and excitement of American politics. That said, my TA was extremely helpful and often more beneficial than attending lecture. I would strongly recommend relying on your TA, as doing so should set you up for success. If you are interested in American politics, don’t let this course discourage you it is just an introductory class, and the department’s upper-level electives are great. Overall, it’s a manageable and fine course, but you should expect it to be a bit on the boring side.

Weekly readings per class (2-5 readings from textbook and online sources) Technically you need a textbook for the class, but I legitimately never touched it and ended up with an A in the class.

Concepts were fairly basic - similar to lessons for AP Government or AP US History, except for a few like Game Theory and Agenda Control. He reads off of a slideshow and posts the slideshows on Canvas. Bulk of the learning is actually done with the TAs, so take advantage of that. Boring, but I did well on all the exams.

Two midterms, one final, and in class quizzes that only count for attendance. Professor McGrath provides a study guide for each each of the exams, but he clearly writes the test questions in a way that doesn't look to ensure that students are understanding the broader themes/bigger picture, and instead focuses on more nit-picky things, trying to 'get you' for skipping a less significant part of his lecture. I did well in the exams, but really make sure that you know everything and know the readings very well.

There is a strong focus on explaining everything through abstractions and game theory, but since the course doesn't provide any explanations about how american politics really works in life it is incredibly frustrating and you feel like you didn't really gain a better understanding of how the American political system really works. This would be a good class if it was maybe a methods class or a game theory class, but as the main american politics class I was very disappointed with the content. Professor McGrath is clearly very knowledgable, but the content on his slides is very basic and he is not very good at explaining the models he teaches the class. There really isn't a flow to the course, each class feels very stilted, I went to all of the lectures and it is very hard to always pay attention, which is something I usually don't struggle with in lectures.