Political Science
Coalections
The team with the most money at the end of the day wins the simulation.
1. The game begins with 7 teams each identifying a leader as needed. The teams occupy a position on a board which looks like an oversized checkerboard. The leader makes all moves for the team.
2. The board is a grid with two axes. On the horizontal axis there are a range of positions for each team to stake out on a single policy question: the amount of public money to be invested in capital improvement for national security. The other (vertical) axis tells how many votes each position is worth in an election. Those positions "at the extreme" (high or low expenditure on education) are worth fewer votes. The more moderate positions receive more votes. These are clearly labeled on the board
3. The game begins with each team staking out a position on the board. No two teams may occupy the same position at any time in the game. A card draw will determine the order of play.
4. After each team has declared its position, a "public opinion poll" will be taken. In fact this is just another card draw. If a red card is drawn, the voters are swinging to the left side of the board (pressing for greater expenditure on national security). If the card is black, more voters want national security expenditures reduced.
5. After each card is drawn, the teams may change their positions. For each incremental change of more than one space on the board, the team must pay $5 per space to GOD ("Game Overall Director").
6. Each team begins with $50. A $10 electoral due at the beginning of each election (not each public opinion poll) round.
7. After each candidate has repositioned in response to the public opinion poll, another poll is taken. Again the candidates will have the opportunity to reposition themselves under the same circumstances described in paragraphs 4 and 5. A third poll will follow with another period of jostling for position, flip-flopping on the issue, and the requisite waffling.
8. The election is the cumulative result of the three polls. If two or more red cards are drawn, then those on the left of the board "win." If two or more black cards are drawn, then those on the right side of the board "win."
9. Winning means the voters receive votes equal to the position on the vertical axis plus bonus votes to be described in paragraph 10 below. Losing means receiving votes equal to the position on the board minus votes to be described in paragraph 11 below.
10. Bonus votes are acquired to each team on the winning side of the board based upon the luck of a card draw. Each winning team will receive additional votes based upon a single card draw as follows: Face Cards add no votes; ace, two three add ten votes, four, five, six or seven add 20 votes, eight, nine or ten add 30 votes, joker adds 50 votes.
11. Penalties are assessed on the losing side of the board. The same formula described in paragraph 10 is used but the votes are deducted rather than added.
12. In addition to the addition and subtraction of votes described in paragraphs 10 & 11, there is another manner in which votes are added. Teams will also acquire the votes of any unoccupied position on the board closest to them. For example, if Team A does take an extreme position (the minimum $5 expenditure) and the closest candidates is 5 positions away, Team A will also acquire the votes of the two closest positions and share the votes of the middle position. No bonus/penalty card draw is conducted for vacant positions. Teams on the winning and losing side of the board acquire the votes of adjacent vacant spaces.
13. For each 20 votes a team receives in the election, it receives 1 seat in the legislature. For example, 40 votes means 2 seats. Two hundred votes mean 10 seats. Two hundred and one votes mean 10 seats, as do 219 votes. After the election, the total number of votes and legislative seats for each team will be posted on the board.
14. After the election, a winning legislative threshold-majority is established. This is nothing more than the number of votes necessary to establish a majority in the legislature. For those of a quantitative bent, this is done by calculating total number of seats won by all parties, dividing in half (rounding down if necessary) and adding one. For example, if the total number of seats won by all parties is 45, then dividing in half (and rounding down) yields 22 and adding one is 23. Thus the winning legislative threshold of a 45 seat legislature is 23. For a 46 seat legislature, the magic number is 24 (46/2=23+1=24)
15. The election dues are the prize for forming a winning coalition with a "matching grant" from GOD. That is, if the 7 teams commit $10 per team for a total of $70, then the "pot" is $140, half supplied by GOD.15. The teams then get together and determine two things: How to divide the pot between them, how much should be spent on national security. The coalition of parties which can muster the winning legislative threshold (see paragraph 14), based upon the number of seats which they obtained in the most recent election, wins the pot.
16. The teams have 5 minutes to work out a winning coalition. If none develops, the dues are forfeited and another election takes place.
17. After five minutes, teams which believe they have a coalition, write down on a piece of paper, how the pot should be divided among them. They submit this paper to GOD. If no coalition with a winning threshold emerges, the legislature collapses and all money is forfeited to GOD.
18. GOD pays out to the winning coalition according to their written formula. However, each team will have a dollar deducted from their payout for each dollar discrepancy between their electoral position (as represented by their place on the board) and the actual amount which the coalition decides to spend on national security. For example, assume that Team A's board position was $50 expenditure for national security and the successful coalition which they joined was voted to budget $65 for education, they would receive whatever portion the coalition agreed to payout MINUS $15, the difference between their electoral position and the actual legislative policy. GOD pays out only to the person who submits the paper containing the winning coalition.
19. After the payout, another election takes place, with the teams paying $10 election dues and starting from scratch on election votes and seats in the legislature, but retaining (at the outset) their old election position on the board.
20. The game continues until GOD gets bored, with the team with the most MONEY at the end of that time, declared the winner. Extra credit points will be awarded to the top three finishers in inverse order of their finish, with first place receiving 7 points, second place 5 points, third place 3 points.
21. Teams may fragment and join others according to their needs or desires during the election phase of the game, on their "move" or "turn" after the results of the public opinion poll are announced.
