Political simulations. An opportunity for Meaningful Democratic Participation in Schools

Political simulations are considered promising tools to instigate democratic learning in schools. This article reports a qualitative inquiry into student involvement in the organization of the 2012 mock elections—the shadow elections that schools can organize in conjunction with the official elections— in eight high schools in the Netherlands.

The objective of this inquiry is twofold: to evaluate student involvement in mock elections in these schools and to lay the theoretical groundwork for further quantitative inquiries into student participation in political events. (official abstract)