Class record · POLI · MCAS

POLI 2412

Political Parties, Voters and Party Systems in Comparative Perspective · 1 instructor on record · 5 sections

What the course score is made of

82BC evaluations5 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – Fall 2025

—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of

72ndMore challenging than 72% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

94BC — “Intellectually Challenging”5 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of

39thMore work than 39% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

50BC — “Workload”5 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

This course offers an overview of political institutions such as political parties and elections as democracies face a populist challenge in areas as diverse as Western Europe, Latin America, and Asia. After reviewing the theoretical and historical foundations for party politics and party systems, the course will examine the ways in which political parties reach out to voters in countries with different institutional legacies, in industrialized countries as well as in post-colonial democracies in the Global South, whether through programmatic platforms or political quid pro quos (such as vote buying and patronage).The course will also explore the rise of contemporary populist politics and how this brand of politics challenges traditional party-voter linkages and contributes to the erosion of democratic norms.

The only instructor on record

5 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge	RMP overall
Thibaud MarcessePolitical Science	895 records	39th	72nd	946 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Thibaud Marcesse is the only instructor with evaluation records for POLI 2412, so the number is a record, not a position. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Thibaud Marcesse

5 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
POLI 2407Introduction to South Asian Politics	14 records	92
POLI 2413The New Worlds of Welfare Capitalism: Economic Reform, Redistribution, and Social Policy	14 records	86
POLI 4496Democracy and Political Mediation in the Global South	12 records	97
POLI 4497The Politics of Contemporary India: Democracy and Identity	12 records	77
POLI 7803Field Seminar in Comparative Politics	22 records	79

Other POLI classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
POLI 1021How to Rule the World: Introduction to Political Theory	645 records	82
POLI 1041Fundamental Concepts of Politics	1037 records	76
POLI 2360Seminar: Rights in Conflict	923 records	84
POLI 1042Introduction to Modern Politics	519 records	83
POLI 2665The Question of Justice	919 records	80
POLI 2440A Continent on the Move: Immigration in Contemporary Europe	110 records	86

The line

All 13 items · means across 5 records

The Professor4 items

Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.

9349th pctl

Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.

9450th pctl

Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.

9138th pctl

Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.

9343rd pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

9357th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

9252nd pctl

Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.

9035th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

8727th pctl

Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.

8523rd pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

8315th pctl

Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings

WorkloadHow much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.

5039th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

9472nd pctl

Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.

9571st pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

5 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Thibaud Marcesse	Fall 2025	01	95	89	40
Thibaud Marcesse	Fall 2024	01	95	89	60
Thibaud Marcesse	Fall 2023	01	82	76	—
Thibaud Marcesse	Fall 2022	01	84	79	60
Thibaud Marcesse	Fall 2021	01	90	79	40

How to read this boardInstructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.