TEACHING COMPANION / NO ACCOUNT NEEDED
The Power Circuit
Build a government. Then try to keep it.
Executives, legislatures & government formation · Three resumable acts · pilot timing pending
Learning goals
- Distinguish government formation and removal across three executive systems.
- Separate support for a bill from support for a government.
- Build a conditional hypothesis, rival explanation and possible falsifier.
Before the activity
No specialist knowledge required. Brief explanations introduce each rulebook.
Syllabus description
Bargain for a coalition, face a confidence vote and confront the same crisis under three political systems. The votes stay the same. The rules change what they can do. Students produce institutional comparison and research brief.
Discussion prompts
- When did the same vote have a different consequence?
- Which tradeoff would you accept, and under what conditions?
What to assess
Look for an accurate rule → decision → consequence explanation, supported comparisons, and a testable hypothesis.
Limitations
Matched fictional rulebooks simplify real systems. Country dossiers show variation within each system. Timing and learning effects need classroom piloting.
Credit & permissions
Created by Yoav Duman. Free educational use, sharing and hosted embedding; software rights reserved. Software, artwork, branding and third-party materials are separate; see the full reuse information.
Suggested citation: Yoav Duman, “The Power Circuit: Teaching companion,” Possible States, https://possiblestates.com/teaching/power-circuit. Include your access date.
ASSESSMENT & SUBMISSION
Grade the explanation.
The interface has no opinion.
Set an endpoint, ask for the activity’s readable report, and use your existing LMS. Students can use Print / Save as PDF where a separate download is not offered. A progress backup is for restoring work, not grading it.
A suggested 10-point rubric
For each criterion: 0 = absent, 1 = partial, 2 = clear and supported. Adapt the weighting to your course; this is guidance, not automatic scoring.
- Concepts / 2
- Use the relevant political concept accurately.
- Evidence / 2
- Support a claim with a specific record or comparison.
- Mechanism / 2
- Explain how the rule or arrangement produces a consequence.
- Revision / 2
- Address a rival account or explain a change of mind.
- Limits / 2
- State what the model or evidence cannot establish.
Say this before they begin.
- Choose For class and follow the instructor’s endpoint.
- Save a progress backup before moving devices or changing website address.
- Open the readable report and check the required responses.
- Upload it to the course assignment. Check the LMS submission confirmation.
Switching from exploration keeps the current work, but skipped class responses may still need completing. A local report cannot establish authorship or make an activity tamper-proof.
Make it an assignment.
Edit this text, then copy it into your LMS. These edits stay in this tab.
Syllabus description & discussion prompts
Syllabus description
Bargain for a coalition, face a confidence vote and confront the same crisis under three political systems. The votes stay the same. The rules change what they can do. Students produce institutional comparison and research brief.
Questions for a discussion board or class debrief
- When did the same vote have a different consequence?
- Which tradeoff would you accept, and under what conditions?