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Zombie Federalism: Using Experiential Learning Pedagogy in State and Local Politics

Abstract This article describes the results of a game (Zombie Federalism) created for a lower-level political science elective, State and Local Politics. This game was created to improve both retention of course material and enthusiasm in a historically underperforming course. In the game, students play the roles of officials in different levels of government, who are attempting to solve both the mundane problems of government as well a fictional zombie epidemic. The simulation forces students to navigate between short-term versus long-term goals as well as individual versus communal outcomes. The results show that student scores from multiple choice questions relevant to the game improved from the midterm to the final exam.