Using Mock Elections in the Class-Room: A 2003-2019 study in Belgium

• In Event: TLC at APSA: Simulations and Games Track Panel 1: Centering Student Engagement

Abstract

Mock elections are an important education tool, but simaltenously there are concerns about whether this tool could allow for partisan interference within the classroom. In this paper we report on mock-elections we have held, every year, in our class-room since 2003. Results show, first of all, that results are reliable. There was no significant difference between an on-line and a paper survey within the class room. Furthermore, we can also show that the result of the mock elections proved to be an important tool to highlight the importance of different electoral systems. The 17 mock-elections that were held since 2003 furthermore demonstrate that there is no reason to assume that there was any influence of teacher staff on the electoral preferences of the students. Since 2003, some 8,000 students participated in these mock-elections at a major institution for higher education in Belgium.

Author

• Marc Hooghe, University Leuven