Welcome to Civic Town.

A cooperative simulation of Bonotti and Nwokora’s civic model of political finance. Decide how money should support parties, watchdogs, forums, pledges, and message access, then judge what those choices do to democratic life.

Reading in action Civic model Institutional tradeoffs Win = healthy democracy

Class objective

Win condition: Voice, Accountability, and Collegiality at 70+, Turnout above 70%, and Funding concentration below 45%. Democratic health means plural competition, participation, trust, and responsibility.

Connection to the reading

Bonotti and Nwokora ask how political finance can support democratic citizenship, not just party victory. Civic Town turns that into a design problem: can the class fund competition, voice, accountability, and deliberation together?

How the activity works

  • Tutor: reset the room and project the QR code.
  • Students: enter a name, allocate 100 credits, then submit.
  • Trade-off: fund party competition and civic institutions.
  • Debrief: use the dashboard to judge democratic health.

Civic Town

A live classroom game about how money, parties, and civic institutions reshape democratic life.

Campaign briefing

Opening campaign week

Parties enter the campaign with equal access to the voucher platform.

Allocate civic credits and watch the town respond.

Drag orbit · Scroll zoom · Double-click reset
Turnout58%
Concentration0%
Collegiality50
Voice50
Accountability50
Town hallWaiting

Enter Civic Town

Students: enter your first name or group name after scanning the tutor’s QR code. Tutors: open the moderator console first, start a clean class session, then project the QR code.

Class objective from the reading

Win by making Bonotti and Nwokora’s civic model work: Voice, Accountability, and Collegiality at 70+, Turnout above 70%, and Funding concentration below 45%.

How to read the dashboard

VoiceAre many citizens and parties heard?
AccountabilityCan voters monitor power and assign responsibility?
CollegialityCan parties compete without corroding democratic trust?
ConcentrationIs political money dominated by one bloc?

Citizen

Spend 100 civic credits. Party vouchers change who leads; civic investments improve democratic health.

Tutor only

Moderator

Start the room, show the QR code, watch submissions, and advance rounds.

Using a shared device or stuck in the wrong role?

Party competition

Campaign map