MORE TO WORK WITH
A few useful places to go next, with a reason to open each one. Concepts, maps, written rules and real-world evidence have different jobs.
POSSIBLE STATES / GET YOUR BEARINGS
Catch up, refresh, explore. World Regions Lab brings maps, guided practice, stories and country comparisons into your political toolkit. Follow a place from a reading or wander into a better question. English and Spanish.
Get your bearings A companion for preparation, review and curious detours. Start wherever you are.A REASONING WARM-UP
An optional reasoning warm-up: investigate everyday claims, compare rival accounts and choose evidence that could distinguish them.
Try thisChoose Core for two cases and a final challenge. Its estimated 30–40 minutes are separate from a Possible States activity.
Open The Evidence Lab ↗Opens an existing companion activity on the creator’s website. Read its local saving instructions; it is not an automatic submission route.A SMALL REFERENCE SHELF
External resources, selected for a task.
They open in a new tab.
OpenStax
Free introductory reading on political questions, concepts and systematic inquiry. Useful when you want a concept explained before or after a simulation.
Find the distinction between a normative question and an empirical one. Identify which kind of claim your report makes.
The linked chapter is publicly readable. Optional study features and print purchases are separate.
Constitute
Search constitutional texts by country or topic, then compare provisions. A way to examine written rules beside the simplified rules in a simulation.
Compare two texts on executive removal or regional authority. Separate what the text says from evidence about its implementation.
Public constitutional texts are the resource. Private collections and account features are optional.
V-Dem
Graph different indicators and indices over time or across countries. Start with a question and inspect what its chosen measure includes.
Compare two indicators for one country. Explain why their paths might differ, and read the measurement notes before drawing a conclusion.
The graphing tools and data are public. Cite the dataset edition and check indicator definitions and uncertainty.
Inter-Parliamentary Union · Parline
Explore parliamentary structure, composition, elections and working methods. Use it to put an institutional comparison into a real setting.
Choose two chambers and one comparable feature. Record the date and denominator before interpreting a difference.
Browse public data and source notes. The existence of a formal parliamentary power does not establish how effectively it is used.
International IDEA · Democracy Tracker
Read country profiles and monthly accounts of democracy-related events, with links to the underlying sources.
Pick one event. State what changed, which aspect of democracy it concerns, and which claim still needs more evidence.
Public event reports are contextual accounts. Their event assessments are not a simple ranking of countries.
World Bank Open Data
Look up development indicators such as population, education or access to services. Read units, years and sources alongside the chart.
Compare the same indicator and year for two countries. Explain what that comparison cannot tell you about the state’s capacity or a policy’s cause.
Public aggregate data. Missing values and national averages can conceal differences within a country.
Read definitions, dates and source notes before comparing. A constitution describes written rules; an index operationalizes a concept; a national average can hide differences within a country. None replaces an explanation.