Run the Government: A Let's Play of Democracy 3 Where You Make the Decisions

In this one-time class, I will introduce the learners to how government and politics actually work in real life by doing an Actual Play of Democracy 3 together with the students. When the game prompts the player to make a decision, the learners will make that decision together by voting for one of the options. Whichever option gets the most votes wins. Then we see what the consequences of each choice will be in the game. As we play through, I will analyze the mechanics of the game and describe which parts of the computer game are realistic to real life politics and which parts of the game are unrealistic. Students are definitely encouraged to ask questions during the game.

The game focuses particularly on the relationship between politicians, voters and donors, but we will discuss other aspects of government as well, and make some suggestions for how to improve the game to better reflect real life.