Hands-on democracy – 10th-Graders take part in the Bundestag simulation game

How does legislation actually work in Germany? What happens in the Bundestag before a law is passed? And how do MPs feel when they have to defend their positions in the plenary chamber? Year 10 pupils from the Berlin Cosmopolitan School got to the bottom of these and many other questions as part of a special learning experience: In the Bundestag simulation game, organised by the Visitors’ Service of the German Bundestag, our pupils slipped into the role of MPs for a day.

Under the motto ‘Experiencing parliamentary democracy through play’, the simulation game offers young people from Year 10 upwards the opportunity to experience the legislative process up close and in a practical way. The simulation is closely based on the real working methods of the Bundestag: participants work with fictitious party programmes, CVs and a political scenario that serves as the starting point for heated debates, strategic negotiations and complex decision-making processes. It soon becomes clear that behind every law there is a long road full of compromises, persuasion – and sometimes conflict.

In the simulation plenary hall, our students engaged in a lively discussion about a draft law, negotiated in parliamentary groups, met in committees and finally struggled to reach a majority decision in the plenary session. Whether the law was passed in the end? That was entirely in the hands of the young parliamentarians themselves.

In addition to a deep understanding of parliamentary processes, the simulation game also promotes key competences: Working independently, changing perspectives, teamwork and negotiating interests were just as much the focus as recognising the legitimacy of different opinions – a valuable experience for democratic action at school, in society and later in professional life.

We would like to thank the Visitors’ Service of the German Bundestag for this inspiring educational programme – and our students for their great commitment and political intuition. Who knows? Perhaps one of tomorrow’s MPs was already sitting in the plenary chamber that day.