Politicking at the Parliament: Student`s Experiences with a Role-Playing game

In a time of democratic decline, there is increasing attention on the role of schools and social studies in ensuring support for democratic institutions such as elections, principles of power-sharing, and critical thinking. Through the simulation of political processes, students can learn about perspective-taking (Lo, 2018), as well as how to understand political processes and institutions (Parker, 2013). Participation in role-playing can enhance students’ political efficacy in their role as citizens (Levy, 2018), as well as their belief that political institutions are responsive to input and influence (Oberle and Leunig, 2016). A common feature of international studies on role-playing as part of civic education, however, is that they consistently include students who have either chosen to specialize in social studies or have been specifically selected to participate. There is therefore a need to examine the use of role-playing that includes a broader student base, as previous research also highlights the influence of social background (Hoskins et al., 2021), also when it comes to role-playing (Eide, 2021). In this study, we examine quantitively students' experiences with the Norwegian Parliament’s educational role-playing game for upper secondary school students and ask: What are the students role- play experience? All students participating in the role-play during a time span of two months in the spring of 2026 were invited to fill out a survey. The data can therefore contribute to shed light on voter education (Børhaug, 2005) and whether and how educational activities such as role play can help students recognize gradual democratic decline, to further develop and strengthen democracy as a form of governance.