The Governing Dead: How a Game about Zombies Can Demonstrate Federalism

• In Event: Diversified Approaches to Simulations and Games in the Classroom II (Livestreamed)

Abstract

This paper describes a strategy game designed for a course in state and local politics called Zombie Federalism. In this strategy game, each student in class took on the role of a member of a fictional national, state or local government, modeled on the American federal system. Collectively, the governments had to deal with a growing zombie epidemic, in addition to realistic problems that actual governments face, such as: public order, infrastructure, regulation, etc. The game design forced each government to deal with two dilemmas: 1) Should governments focus on solving short-term problems (the real-life issues) versus long-term problems (the zombie plague as a stand-in for any long-term and complex real world problem)? 2) When should a government pursue individualized goals that sometimes conflict with the interests of another level of government or even the common good? Quantitative data was analyzed from short essays before and after the game, in-game events, game results, as well as pre- and post-game surveys. Finally, a paired t-test on the surveys illustrate how attitudinal measures about politicians and governance may have shifted as a result of playing the game. Additionally, paired t-tests show how the game affected student knowledge of class concepts.

Author

• Edmond Hally, Ferrum College