American Government Simulation
2010-11
2010-11 Edition now Available
The Game of Politics© American government simulations use role playing to make American politics come alive. These national government classroom and online simulations create an active learning experience, and are appropriate for secondary or higher education government classes, continuing education courses, civic education conferences, community organizations or elder hostel.
Click here to see recent research on the simulation's dramatic impact on student learning of traditional course content. These gains are in addition to the simulation's impact of greater student involvement with the subject matter.
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“It is such an
amazing learning tool. Most of my
students were non-political science majors who enrolled in my
class in order to satisfy a general education requirement.
However, they were completely engaged in the simulation.
Even students who had confessed to me that they didn’t 'get'
politics rolled up their sleeves and dived in.
For me, the greatest strength of the activity is the way it
engaged even shy, disinterested, cynical and lazy students. I believe that most of the students ended the semester with a new-found appreciation of how politics works. For my part, I was pleasantly surprised by the ability of my students, again, non-majors. I was impressed with some clever maneuvers – from the infamous juice label filibuster employed by one senator, to vote trading, to attaching killer amendments to bills, to consciously deciding to ignore certain issues (such as the sex scandal at the military academy).” Prof. Mara Marks, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles CA |
FREE: Those ordering The Game of Politics© simulation will also receive a free copy of the Terra Nova© simulation for Introduction to Politics and Political Theory courses. Click here to learn more about this extra benefit for The Game of Politics© coordinators.
Click the navigation buttons to examine materials from both the macro and micro simulations. Read evaluations from participants and coordinators, take the simulations on a test drive, get answers to frequently asked questions, contact the author or find out how to place an order.
Set a few years in the future, The Game of Politics© macro simulation (3-12 sessions) is a comprehensive and cost-effective simulation of American government that includes all three branches of the national government. This macro simulation brings the subject matter to life and enables the 15-75 participants to gain an insider’s view of our political process. This simulation game has been carefully designed and tested to produce an effective active-learning experience.
A typical session of The Game of Politics© macro simulation begins with a media report on events from the previous session. This is followed by press conferences from participants and “outsiders” who give a human face to the Story Lines. Then participants divide into legislative, executive and judicial work groups to generate policy decisions. During work sessions participants receive material from Story Lines reflecting a volatile political environment. Then, the participants make decisions based on their best assessment of the situation.
The micro
simulation alternatives to the macro simulation use material from the original game and
are full-featured, but allow
users to run even smaller and shorter simulations. These five micro
simulations focus on committee decision-making (for 4-12 players), the
overall legislative
process (19-52) the dynamics of presidential decision-making
(5-8) the
politics of Supreme Court decision-making (8-16) and the national budgetary
process (7-12). Yet, even these
micro simulations place activities within a larger context of
public policy debates through Story Lines and an active media role.
Participants never lose sight of the big
picture.
The Game of Politics© macro simulation is best suited to survey courses or conferences (15-75 participants) where you wish to be more comprehensive, have plenty of interaction between branches, plus have the possibility of up to 12 sessions. The micro simulations are best suited to upper level or highly specialized classes or focused introductory courses with generally smaller enrollments (most are in the 4-16 range) and can be accomplished in fewer sessions.
All simulations have been class tested to ensure that effective learning takes place and they can be “plug and play” experiences for the simulation coordinator. Classroom versions (whether on paper or CD-Rom) come complete with all manuals, a liberal site license and two sets of Story Lines. Online versions include all manuals a liberal site license and Story Lines that are organized for easy uploading to a web platform or email accounts.
The Game of Politics© is being used at undergraduate, graduate and secondary educational institutions in the United States and abroad (from Japan and Viet Nam to Bahrain). It has also been selected for presentation before the (1) American Political Science Association, (2) International Civic Education Research Organization, (3) APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, (4) Midwest Political Science Association, (5) National Center For Political Engagement, (6) Northeastern Political Science Association, (7) Southwestern Political Science Association and (8) Eastern Community College Social Science Association.
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ABSTRACT: THE GAME OF POLITICS SIMULATION: A REPLICATION by Kathleen M. Perez and Melvin A. Kahn, Wichita State University (2008 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association) This paper is a
replication of an exploratory study which sought to evaluate Professor Don Jansiewicz’s GAME OF
POLITICS (The Game) simulation as a learning tool for better
understanding the legislative-executive process. Our original
study used legislative-executive process questions as part of two
separate examinations. The midterm examination was given
after using the traditional lecture-discussion method and a
widely-used American Politics textbook. The final
examination was administered after a series
of five simulation class sessions. Both examinations utilized the same
two essays and 25 open-ended questions although the students were
not aware that this would occur. The original 2007 findings showed
that students, on average, scored much higher on the two essay
questions and the 25 additional items on the final examination
when compared to the midterm results. Means increased in
value while standard deviations decreased in size. A
limitation to the original study, however, was the small number of
cases. Only 19 students took both the midterm and the and
the final examinations at the scheduled times. Given this limitation, the study was replicated one year later using another American Politics course taught by the same instructor who used the exact same course structure. In the second course, 23 students took the midterm and final exam at the scheduled times, and the findings were extremely similar to those in the original study. The implications of these findings are discussed.
This
paper is an exploratory study of Professor Don Jansiewicz's GAME
of POLITICS (The Game) simulation. The course instructor employs
The Game in his introductory American Politics class as a learning
tool for better understanding the legislative-executive process.
Our exploratory study used legislative-executive process questions
as part of two separate multiquestion examinations. The 75-minute
midterm examination was given after using the traditional
lecture-discussion method and a widely used American Politics
textbook. The 110-minute comprehensive final examination was
administered after students had participated in The Game over five
consecutive 75-minute class sessions toward the end of the
semester. In preparation for each examination, students were given
detailed study guides that included 20 possible essay questions
and 40 possible short-answer, open-ended questions. Although the
students were not aware that this would occur, both examinations
included the same two essays and 25 open-ended questions along
with other questions. |
Click on the How to Order button on this web page for more information on available alternatives and the new Annual Update Program.
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Terra Nova Simulation Terra Nova© is a free and flexible simulation for Introduction to Politics courses, Political Theory courses and conferences that is given to those who order any version of The Game of Politics© simulation. Terra Nova© places students in the situation of being on a spacecraft that has left Earth to establish a base camp on a new planet and design a new world, after it is discovered that the Earth will be destroyed by a star moving towards our solar system. In Terra Nova© simulation, students will have the opportunity to start all over again and plan a new world.
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Don Jansiewicz, the author, has decades of experience in designing Political Science simulations. He has previously published The New Alexandria Simulation: A Serious Game of State and Local Politics (Harper and Row). |