Playing Politics

Playing Politics

Playing Politics, a rational-choice workbook of sixteen games, is designed to help students understand the logic behind political decision-making, from creating a constitution to formulating foreign policy. Played in class in 30 to 45 minutes and easily adaptable to any class size, whether 30 or 300 students, these games illustrate such concepts as the importance of rules, the difficulty of collective action, and the rationality of political decisions.About the AuthorJ. Tobin Grant (Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2001) is Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Political Science at Southern Illinois University. He teaches American politics and methodology. In addition toPlaying Politics, Grant is also co-author ofExpression vs. Equality: The Politics of Campaign Finance Reform (2004). His recent articles appear inAmerican Journal of Political Science,Legislative Studies Quarterly, andPolitical Analysis. He is currently engaged in research on measurement theory for social sciences. His other interests include campaign finance, public opinion, and legislative politics.