Assimilation of Public Policy Concepts Through Role-Play: Distinguishing Rational Design and Political Negotiation

Pieter W. G. Bots, F. Pieter Wagenaar and Rolf Willemse
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Pieter W. G. Bots: Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, p.w.g.bots@tudelft.nl
F. Pieter Wagenaar: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, fp.wagenaar@fsw.vu.nl
Rolf Willemse: Rotterdam Audit Office, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, r.willemse@rekenkamer.rotterdam.nl

Simulation & Gaming, 2010, vol. 41, issue 5, 743-766

Abstract: One important objective of introductory courses in public administration is to sensitize students to the difference between two concepts: substantive rationality and political rationality. Both types of rationality play an important role in policy processes. Yet, although the difference is straightforward in theory, and is addressed and well-illustrated in most standard textbooks on public administration, students seem to have difficulty internalizing it. This article reports on our findings from a role-playing game designed to make students experience the difference between policy making as a process of rational design and policy making as a process of political negotiation. We conducted an experiment involving a large group of students enrolled in a first year, one-semester course, and a control group of students who enrolled in the same course 1 year later. The former were tested four times (start of the course, immediately before and after playing the game, and 3 months later) and the latter two times (at the start of the course and at the exam) for their understanding of how policy making—as-rational-design and policy making—as-political-negotiation differ on seven characteristics. Comparison of test results obtained before and after the role-play indicates a positive learning effect for some characteristics, and a negative learning effect for others.

Keywords: debt settlement game; education; experiential learning; public policy; rationality; role-play; Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:simgam:v:41:y:2010:i:5:p:743-766

DOI: 10.1177/1046878109353468

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