OVERVIEW
Congratulations! You are the new dictator of Funstan—a fictitious country where you have
assumed the title of ‘Supreme Leader.’ In an effort to consolidate your rule, you have decided to
inaugurate an entirely new political regime. Your primary task is to settle upon a set of political
institutions that you think will best ensure your chances of survival. Specifically, you must make
the following institutional choices:
• Legislative-Executive Relations: Will you adopt a presidential or a parliamentary system?
• Electoral System: Will you adopt a plurality or proportional representation voting system?
• Party Organization: Will you create your own political party or will you forgo a party system?
Will you allow opposition parties to form and contest elections?
• Decentralization: Will you adopt a federal or unitary system of governance?
• Judiciary: Will you establish a separate judicial branch of government? If so, what kind of
authority and jurisdiction would you give the courts?
KEY TASKS/ADVICE
1. Answer all of the institutional questions outlined above. In other words, the body of your paper
should consist of at least five subsections where you discuss your institutional selections
regarding: legislative-executive relations, electoral system, party organization, decentralization,
and the judiciary.
2. You must explain why you believe that the institutional choices you’ve made will best ensure
your survival. The quality of your justifications will account for the majority of the grade
for this assignment. The strongest arguments will not only discuss the advantages of the
institutions chosen but will also highlight the disadvantages of the institutions that were not
chosen. For example, if you think a presidential system is best, a great argument will not
only highlight what you believe constitute presidentialism’s strengths—it will also identify
the weaknesses of a parliamentary approach.
3. Keep your justifications relevant. For instance, while a comparison of plurality and proportional
representation includes a wide array of different criteria, limit yourself to only those
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features you feel directly influence your survivability. In other words, don’t ‘brain dump’ all
possible advantages/disadvantages, here—some will be more relevant for dictatorial survival
than others.
