Mock Democracy in Schools

Democracy is a process that aims to best serve the needs of its people. This process requires the continuous input of its citizens. Democracy is only possible through high civic engagement, where all are engaged in the project of building their communities and country. To have a country full of active citizens, we need to address the gap in civic education that leads to long-term disengagement in democratic processes. The challenges resulting from the lack of civic education are profound, yet they only appear clearly when the opportunity to address them efficiently and en masse has passed. Young students grow up without a clear understanding of how their governments work, the importance of town halls and assemblies, and the power of their vote. As a result, children grow into adults of voting age who are unaccustomed to keeping informed on local issues and speaking about politics. Thus, a sense of apathy and disempowerment is manifested, leading to low voter turnout.

To address this, civic education must start early by teaching, habitualizing, and making accessible the pathways to democratic engagement that will be available to children as they grow up. To do so, we propose introducing Mock Democracy in primary and secondary schools. Mock Democracy would include four main components: mock elections and assemblies, student governments, locally-tailored educational material, and visits from local government officials. All these initiatives focus on bringing students into the political process by directly engaging with local contexts, where the power of their voices and votes can be most immediately felt and realized.

Hold Mock Elections in Primary and Secondary Schools

This initiative would include organizing mock elections across a school. These elections would look like—and could run parallel to—the elections happening within the students’ town, state/region, and nation. Young students will be introduced to and led through the process of casting a ballot. This can be expanded upon to include town hall-like assemblies and open forums of discussion within a class or larger group where students learn, speak, and ask questions about the issues most relevant to elections. These would be moderated by adults but driven by students. This is a fun event; it could even include a bit of theater, dress-up, and roleplaying of candidates in a debate, keeping children entertained and engaged. By having a program with events throughout the year and the whole span of a student’s early educational career, they will build up the habit of participating in democratic processes.

Promote Student Government Organizations and Elections

To further enrich students’ familiarity with democratic processes, we suggest having a student government complete with a board, committees, and elections. This will provide opportunities for students to understand what it would mean to enter into public service roles and allow students the opportunity to take a hands-on approach within their schools. The student government would be the representatives of the student body and would be an important contact point between students and the school administration. Through the student government, children would learn how to articulate their thoughts on issues they care about, collaborate, and compromise.

Circulate Locally Tailored Educational Material on Civic Issues and Processes Participating in local governance is a gateway to deepening civic engagement. It is important that students learn about national and subnational governments, elections, and other pathways of participation. There are many benefits to students engaging with the issues prevalent in their community: they have more access to changemakers and stakeholders, they feel a personal connection, and their voices and votes will have more weight and impact in a smaller arena. We propose that schools circulate materials on local issues, inspiring students and showing them points where action can be taken. A benefit of this local focus is that information is more personally verifiable and, therefore, less likely to be susceptible to misinformation.

Bring Local Representatives to Schools for Discussion

To further familiarize students with issues in their local communities, local representatives, such as a mayor, parliamentarian, or union leader can visit schools to meet with students. Students would have an opportunity to learn from, discuss, and ask the guests questions. This builds familiarity with officials who can often feel far-removed; children are shown that governments are run by real people, just like them, who are making change and who they can feel comfortable contacting. Showing children that politics is accessible is key to creating adults who engage in democratic processes and traverse complex government systems.