Learning Political Theory by Role Playing

Abstract

Role playing is more likely to promote active learning amongst undergraduate students than a traditional university lecture. This teaching method has been employed effectively in disciplines such as history and in area‐studies subjects such as Middle Eastern politics in which students assume the role of particular historical or political agents. However, it is not obvious how role playing might be used to teach political theory. In this article, I discuss a role‐play exercise that I devised and consider how it helped to promote what Paul Ramsden calls a ‘deep‐holistic’ approach to learning amongst undergraduate students in a second/third year subject in political theory.

Developing Immersive Simulations: The Potential of Theater in Teaching and Learning in Political Studies

“…His book, Playing Politics (1979), made a compelling case for the potential of developing forms of teaching that make political concepts accessible to a wide audience. Similar concerns motivated Schaap's (2005) use of role play in political-theory classes, Smith's (2012) ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................…”

Whipping Them in: Role-Playing Party Cohesion with a Chief Whip

“…As Archer and Miller noted, political science classes are natural bedfellows for active-learning techniques like role-plays: "The subject matter lends itself to discussion and debate, theories and decision-making can be evaluated in light of current events, and institutions such as Congress and the United Nations lend themselves easily to simulations" (Archer and Miller 2011, 430). The literature now contains multiple examples from political science and international relations, covering almost all areas of the discipline, including topics as diverse as the following: election campaigns (Caruson 2005;Kathlene and Choate 1999;Mariani 2007;Pappas and Peaden 2004); electoral systems (Hoffman 2009); the policy process (Grummel 2003); foreign policy decision making (Loggins 2009); arms control (Kelle 2008); the Middle East (Dougherty 2003); the European Council (Zeff 2003); and political theory (Schaap 2005). Published work on parliamentary role-plays and simulations have thus far focused mostly on the U.S. Congress (Bernstein and Meizlish 2003;Ciliotta-Rubery and Levy 2000;Lay and Smarick 2006).…”

UN Studies and the Curriculum as Active Learning Tool

“…This includes not only full debriefing, for example, in class and through assessment, but also includes a close fit between the activity undertaken and the intended goals of learning. For example, negotiation simulations such as Model United Nations (Kille 2002; McIntosh 2001; Schaap 2005) are more appropriately suited to the conceptual pairs of “conflict and cooperation” or “power and representation” than “effectiveness and efficiency,” which in turn would be more appropriately addressed by case study learning (Burch 2000; Lantis, Kuzma, and Boehrer 2000) and student‐practitioner workshops (Smith 2004). In other words, a high degree of task authenticity (see Lantis et al.…”