Poll Position
Poll Position draws thirteen political systems, the G7 plus China, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Türkiye, as the same simple diagram, built piece by piece as you scroll. Voters at the bottom, chambers in the middle, leaders on top, and arrows for who picks whom. A calendar strip shows which seats face voters when.
What problem does it solve?
Election coverage assumes you already know the machinery. What a midterm is. Why nobody in Canada votes for the Prime Minister. Why France has a president and a prime minister at once. Poll Position shows the machinery itself, one country at a time, with as few words as possible.
How it works
It opens on a globe made of dots, with the thirteen countries inked in. Scroll and the globe turns to each country in turn, alphabetically. A line model of its parliament building assembles from a floor plan and swings upright, then gives way to an engraving of the real thing.
Then the scroll builds that country’s system. Voters sit at the bottom, the two chambers fill in seat by seat in the middle, and the leaders appear on top. Solid arrows are public votes. Dashed arrows mean someone else does the choosing. Every seat is a dot, filled when voters elect it and hollow when they don’t.
A calendar strip stays on screen the whole time. Keep scrolling and the years go by, with the seats facing voters each year turning red. Select any part of the diagram for its details.
Whom it’s for
Anyone who follows world news and has quietly wondered how another country’s system fits together.
Frequently asked questions
What is Poll Position?
An interactive explainer of how thirteen countries elect their parliaments and form their governments. Each country is drawn with the same shapes, so the differences are easy to spot.
What are US midterms?
The election held two years into a president's term. Every House seat and about a third of Senate seats are up. The president is not on the ballot.
Does it show current parties or seat counts?
No. It covers structure and rules only, so it stays accurate after each election.
Which countries are covered?
Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States.
