Election Simulations in Civic Education in the Netherlands: An Opportunity for Meaningful Democratic Learning?

Election simulations are considered a viable tool to instigate democratic learning in schools. This paper reports an explorative qualitative inquiry into one type of simulation project: mock-elections (ME). Main objective was to gain an insight into the organization of ME-practices in eight schools in the Netherlands in 2012. Thematic analysis of interviews with teachers and materials revealed how student roles in the organization could be classified as being organizer, assistant and recipient. Prevailing types of activities concerned a one-lesson assignment on party programs and personal interests, and discussion of political news items. Discussion of the ME-practices in light of CDC-theory suggests that meaningful democratic learning can benefit from strengthening student participation in the organization and introducing (peer-) assessments.