Course: Introduction to Political Science (POLS 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Halloran
Module: Week 7 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objectives covered: Objective 5 — analyze political institutions — legislatures, executives, and judiciaries — including the parliamentary/presidential/semi-presidential distinction, government formation and removal, and (previewed) judicial review and independence.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 7 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday pattern with Week 7 meeting Tue Oct 13 and Thu Oct 15 (module opens Mon Oct 12), with end-of-week work due Sunday Oct 18, 11:59 p.m.

(A) Module 7 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 7: Legislatures & Executives

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

We've spent six weeks on ideas — power, ideologies, theory, regime types, constitutions. Starting this week, we build the machinery. Every government needs a body that makes law and a body that runs the country day to day. This week you learn what legislatures do, what executives do, and the single design choice that shapes almost everything else about how a democracy behaves: is the executive drawn from and removable by the legislature (parliamentary), separately elected for a fixed term (presidential), or some blend of both (semi-presidential)? You'll meet the classic argument over which design serves democracy better — and, as always, you'll get both sides at full strength.

The week's big question

"Should a democracy fuse its executive and legislative power together, or keep them separate — and what does each choice buy, and cost?"

By Friday you'll be able to name what legislatures and executives actually do, sort real countries into parliamentary/presidential/semi-presidential correctly, explain how each removes a failing government, and state the strongest case on both sides of the parliamentary-vs-presidential debate.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all four out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Explain what legislatures do (represent, legislate, oversee) and the unicameral vs. bicameral design choice.
• [ ] Distinguish head of state from head of government — and know which systems fuse the two roles and which split them.
• [ ] Correctly classify real countries as parliamentary, presidential, or semi-presidential, and explain how each removes a government that has lost confidence (no-confidence vote vs. fixed term/impeachment).
• [ ] State the strongest case for both sides of the parliamentary-vs-presidential debate — Linz's "perils of presidentialism" worries and the checks/identifiability replies — without picking a winner.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up on the AI tools: you'll use a chatbot to draft and explain, and then you judge its work against the texts and the record. Chatbots routinely mislabel which countries use which system (calling parliamentary Germany "presidential" is a classic slip) and misstate no-confidence rules. Catching the model is the point — in the tutorial, the assignment, and the workshop.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline — I'd much rather hear from you early.

How to succeed this week

• Lead with the two jobs, not the labels. Every government needs someone to make law (the legislature) and someone to run the country (the executive). The labels — parliamentary, presidential, semi-presidential — are just different answers to who holds the executive job, and how do you remove them if they fail?
• Memorize one tiny hook. "Fused or separate?" A parliamentary system fuses the executive into the legislature (the PM sits in Parliament and can be removed by a no-confidence vote); a presidential system separates them (the president is elected independently, for a fixed term, and removed only by impeachment, not a vote of no confidence). Semi-presidential blends both.
• Watch for the head-of-state / head-of-government trap. In the UK, the monarch is head of state (ceremonial) and the PM is head of government (runs things). In the U.S., one person — the President — is both. Mixing these up is the single most common slip.
• Treat the chatbot as a confident intern, not an oracle. It will confidently tell you Germany is "presidential" (it isn't — Germany is parliamentary; the Chancellor is head of government, the President is a largely ceremonial head of state). Your job all term is to check it against the source.
• Expect fairness, practice fairness. This week's central debate — parliamentary vs. presidential — has serious scholars on both sides. You'll read Juan Linz's famous worries about presidentialism (rigid terms, dual legitimacy, "winner-take-all" stakes) and the strongest replies (identifiability, direct accountability, and separation as its own check). No verdict gets handed to you.

You don't need any background beyond Weeks 5–6 for this week — just a willingness to sort real countries carefully rather than by gut feeling. Come to class ready to defend a constitutional design. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 7

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Oct 12, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Oct 12."

Subject: Welcome to Week 7 — who runs the country, and who can fire them? 🏛️

Hi everyone, and welcome back!

Quick warm-up before we start: name a country's head of government. Now name its head of state. If you gave the same name twice (say, a U.S. president), you just demonstrated one design; if you gave two different names (say, a U.K. prime minister and a monarch), you demonstrated the other. This week — Political Institutions I: Legislatures & Executives — we tackle the big question: should a democracy fuse its executive and legislative power together, or keep them separate — and what does each choice buy, and cost?

By Friday you'll know what legislatures actually do (represent, legislate, oversee), you'll be able to correctly classify real countries as parliamentary, presidential, or semi-presidential, and you'll have read Walter Bagehot's 1867 case for fusion side by side with the U.S. Constitution's case for separation — the same design question, two completely different answers, both still shaping the world.

Three things not to miss:
1. Lecture Tutorial 7 — work through the week's ideas with one approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and submit the share link. You'll catch the model mislabeling which countries use which system. Due Sun Oct 18.
2. Political Analysis Workshop 7 (Bagehot's "fusion" vs. U.S. Constitution Art. I–II), Quiz 7, Discussion 7, and Assignment 7 also close Sun Oct 18 — the workshop is the heart of the course, so start early.
3. Open the Start Here page first — it lays out everything in order with due dates.

One promise, right up front: this week's central debate — parliamentary vs. presidential — has serious, careful scholars on both sides, and this course will never tell you which is "better." You'll get Juan Linz's classic worries about presidentialism and the strongest replies, both at full strength, and your grade will depend only on your reasoning.

Bring your curiosity (and a guess at how your own country's executive gets removed if it fails) to class on Tuesday.

See you soon,
Prof. Halloran