Decision Making and Participation: An Exercise

Abstract

This article describes an exercise in political decisionmaking for use in introductory political science courses. Based upon participatory democratic theory, the exercise is a covert simulation project aimed at providing students with an experiential understanding of the political decisionmaking process. This activity is useful for exposing the latent political structure which underscores most social settings and for allowing a clear analysis of the exercise of power in a small, educational arena; the simulation provides a unique opportunity for combining subject matter and pedagogical technique.The procedure will be described in some detail, the initial results generated are discussed, the topics related to the experience later in the course are examined, and suggestions for instructor preparation are made. This procedure has been successfully used in undergraduate classes of Introduction to American Government and in Introduction to Political Science over a five year period.