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Student Parties

Don’t like the current political parties? No problem! This is your chance to create new ones! In this activity, your class will divide into 2-5 groups that best reflect each group’s views.

In your groups, you’ll be responsible for coming up with a party name and a platform for the next federal election. A party platform is a statement of policies and beliefs that helps voters understand what a party stands for and what they will do if they form government.

Gather together in groups and form your political party. Some groups will have more members than others – that’s fine; that’s life. There can only be five groups/parties total and if initial clustering creates more than five groups, some of you will have to merge your parties with others.
Create a name and a slogan for your party. This should represent your collective ideology or philosophy.
Create your party platform. Each party is required to come up with five policies that address five top issues in Canada (eg. economic growth/jobs, environment, health care, education, Indigenous rights, housing, etc). It’s unlikely you’ll all agree on the five policy solutions you want to showcase – or even the five priorities you want to focus on. This is where negotiation come in! What can you live with? What can’t you live with? Is there a deal to be made? Will you cross the floor to a different party? It’s all on the table!
Determine who wants to run for leader of your party. Have a vote to determine the winner.
Create a poster highlighting your platform and a quick pitch for your leader to use to convince your classmates (yes, those who are with other parties) to vote for your party.
Have a campaign! Each leader from each party will give their pitch to the class. Then, for a time the class determines, everyone will have the chance to look at other party platforms and work the room. In other words, you will have one-on-one conversations with your classmates and try convince them to swing their vote to you.
Election time! Have everyone cast their ballot, tally the results and see which party forms government and which leader becomes prime minister. No majority? No problem! Negotiate with other parties, determining a consensus leader and platform, until you find enough votes to govern.
As a class, discuss what you learned. What surprised you? What part of the political process was difficult? Do you have more empathy for the real politicians? Were your political parties similar to the real political parties? How were they different?