TEACHING COMPANION / NO ACCOUNT NEEDED
When the Center Breaks
A ruler leaves. What actually changes?
Revolution, regime change & comparative causal reasoning · Three 50-minute meetings · provisional teaching plan
Learning goals
- Distinguish leader exit, regime transformation, democratization and social revolution using dated criteria.
- Connect a theory to actors, actions and a causal mechanism, then compare a serious rival.
- Interpret numbers with their units and denominators; audit sources and preserve evidence-based revisions.
- Transfer an explanation to a new case and propose evidence that could weaken a hypothesis.
Before the activity
Advanced activity. Introduce state, regime, government and institutions; the quest supplies its theory toolkit.
Syllabus description
Open real case files from Tunisia, Egypt, Belarus and Sri Lanka. Test theories of revolution, interrogate numbers and sources, and defend what changed in political authority. New evidence may challenge your first explanation. Students produce evidence notebook, independent case brief and testable hypothesis.
Discussion prompts
- Which organizations could keep governing after a leader left, and what evidence supports your explanation?
- Which observation changed your claim, and which rival remains plausible?
- What can this four-case selection establish, and what would require a different comparison?
What to assess
Assess concepts, mechanism, evidence and data, rivals, revision and uncertainty, and transfer. The manual supplies an 18-point reasoning rubric. Completion and word floors record attempts; they do not grade reasoning.
Limitations
Historical events remain fixed; the Commission is fictional. Four purposively selected cases do not estimate revolution success rates. Cover art is conceptual. Timing and learning effects require 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, “When the Center Breaks: Teaching companion,” Possible States, https://possiblestates.com/teaching/when-the-center-breaks. 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.
Prepare an assignment to share.
Edit this text, then copy it into Canvas or your course website. These edits stay in this tab.
Syllabus description & discussion prompts
Syllabus description
Open real case files from Tunisia, Egypt, Belarus and Sri Lanka. Test theories of revolution, interrogate numbers and sources, and defend what changed in political authority. New evidence may challenge your first explanation. Students produce evidence notebook, independent case brief and testable hypothesis.
Questions for a discussion board or class debrief
- Which organizations could keep governing after a leader left, and what evidence supports your explanation?
- Which observation changed your claim, and which rival remains plausible?
- What can this four-case selection establish, and what would require a different comparison?