I took POLS12 last year and it was tough! For a lower division prerequisite course, this class was unnecessarily difficult. Lots of reading from two required textbooks (about 1-2 long, multi-sectional chapters) for each class. Lectures are good but he only pulls from the readings for tests which are extremely nit-picky and specific. Wouldn't retake

Two midterms, a final, and quizzes. There are tons of readings to keep up with. The exams are crazy difficult but he curves.

Its one of the hardest classes ive had at ucsb, but I learned a lot and he's a good teacher. very hard class though, tests are really hard, ive managed to get As on them by putting in hours into the textbook and making insane notes for the tests (ahead of time keeping up with readings). might be in some bureaucratic lawyer cult but overall cool.

Took this for a pre-req for

His tests are needlessly difficult, but even with a C average on the tests, I still managed to get an A- because of writing assignments and participation. He's got a bit of an ego and will ridicule students for expressing different opinions from his, but if you have a well formed factual argument, he will show more respect. Cares about his students

avoid if you are not a polisi major!!! I took this class 3 quarters ago and still get upset thinking about how difficult it was. His directions are unclear. His lectures do not make sense and I got little to no feedback when I would ask. When I did get feedback it was 1-2 WORDS per essay. I had no idea what I was even learning.

he was a very great lecturer and passionate about polysci. however, there were 700 word papers due every week and they were graded pretty harshly. there was also a ton of reading every week.

Professor Nall is very passionate about the subject but he is a tough grader and his lectures are as well. He goes fast and does not give breaks between the midterm week and the weakly assignments. Be ready to read a lot and write a lot.

Nall is a great expert in American politics, and you can expect to learn a lot. 3-5 hours of extra-lecture work per week should be enough. I don't think he did a good job supporting the TAs during the strike, and that's why my rating is a 4 instead of a 5.

Doesn't answer emails. I emailed him asking for zoom office hours when I had COVID, he responded literally 2 weeks later. His response papers are so confusing and we don't even go over them. He like also cries. Once for democracy, he is passionate at least.

Nall is very knowledgeable about American politics and has a lot of experience working on real policy stuff. He really wants his students to learn, and expect them to devout a lot of time to his course. Still, you don't need to spend more than a couple hours outside of lecture in it per week if you follow politics

Literally the worst political science professor I have ever had. It feels like he wants you to fail because the tests are so insanely unreasonable when this is supposedly equivalent to AP Gov. I have spent over 60 hours studying for the final and I am still unprepared. Midterm average was a 68% and there is way way way too much reading always.

Lots of reading yet the answers to his exams barely match what is claimed in the material. The professor was unwilling to help students with personal problems during TA strike. He creates an echo chamber classroom and tends to cry and enter moments of emotional silence if something is presented outside of his preferred political stance.

The average on our midterm was 68%, and he says the final is around the same. Lectures don't even cover what's on the midterm and he has been grading the response papers hard since the strike. Don't take this guy If u have a chance, easily the worst Poli sci professor

Clayton Nall is so well informed on everything he teaches, I find it so endearing how passionate he is about all of his lectures, it makes it easy to learn. Just understand the textbook and you should be good, the class has lots of padding in terms of grading. You can tell he wants to push his students to do better

I really enjoyed this class and seeing a professor be passionate about issues is refreshing to see and he really cares about what he talks about.While there were some issues, especially the midterm formatting he seems to have listened to feedback and made the final better structured.I found the material very engaging and thought it was a good class

Lots of people complain how he doesn't record lectures, but this isn't unreasonable at all. many profs don't do this and he posts all the slides and links online. response paper system was convenient and I preferred writing six short papers (500-750 words) rather than one long paper. lots of reading but you can skip out on some weeks.

He doesn't record lectures despite the fact that we are living through a global pandemic and sometimes people need access to the recordings in the event that they cannot attend class. Generally speaking, he seems to hold a weird animosity towards confusion and asking questions and often appears condescending. Also just so much reading it hurts.

Clayton is pretty rude if you're confused during lectures or if you ask questions that he thinks are "dumb". Yeah, he's one of those guys. He gives you 100-150 pages of reading per week for a GE. He doesn't record lectures either because he is personally against it. He will not make his class dual online/in-person, even during COVID.

Professor Nall is MEAN. He is so unfriendly and so unhelpful. He gets mad when you don't know as much about a topic as him, that he literally has a PhD in. He said himself that students should be doing 5+ hours of work outside of class for a 2 credit class. He has a condescending attitude and that makes for an unpleasant learning environment. AVOID

It's a lot of reading that you have to do. Some of them were interesting and others were a bore, but the participation in class made it far more engaging. He teaches it like a grad-school level class, so if you're interested in getting a taste of upper-level academia, I would recommend this class. Also the final paper was actually quite interesting

Good readings and good lectures. The class is really more of an interactive seminar. The policy memo project is good training for future jobs in politics and policy.

Nall is a tough professor but he is ultimately fair. The class projects are a great introduction to doing original original research.

Participation for section is required, not for lecture. No laptops allowed in lecture in 2024. Nall is very sensitive, I would not recommend him to anyone, especially taking a lower div polisci pre-req. The coursework itself is not bad, but he is just difficult to work with. Mandatory textbook is $80. Don't take unless you have to.