The Rules of the Game: Experiencing Global Capitalism on a Monopoly Board

ABSTRACT

Sociologists have long recognized the utility of modified forms of Monopoly as tools for teaching about social stratification within the United States. We present an adaptation of Monopoly to help instructors teach students how capitalism plays out in a liberalizing world economy. By taking on roles as CEOs of global companies based in different countries, students come to understand firsthand how and why the winners and losers of market globalization are determined by the rules of the game that are set by international institutions. Students themselves vote on whether and how these rules will change, experiencing crucial intersections of politics and economics. By the end of the game, students are ready to critically examine the governing structures of a globalizing economy, and the political outcomes these structures produce. Quantitative and experimental results suggest that playing the game increases student interest in and understanding of several key concepts of neoliberal globalization.

KEYWORDS:

• Active learning
• games
• international political economy
• neoliberalism
• simulations

Notes

Chanda, 2002.

Noer and Ewalt, 2012.

Converting the original Monopoly properties to the new properties can be accomplished simply with masking tape and a permanent marker, applied to both the board and the property cards. This is not strictly necessary, as the name changes do not affect the gameplay but only align the game thematically with the global economy.

The authors recommend determining company ownership randomly by having students choose their token and only then telling them which company each token represents (for instance, the car can represent Mercedes Benjamins).

Putting the concept of nation-states into play, although it complicates the game, makes the metaphor of the world economy more concrete and tangible for students. Moreover, the role of governments is central in the voting sessions of the IMF, World Bank, and WTO.

To randomly select properties, simply have a player close one’s eyes and choose a card from the remaining unpurchased properties (for privatization) or from the nationalized player’s properties (for nationalization).

In 2005, a significant chunk of Third World debt was forgiven, amounting to $1 billion a year in total savings in debt repayment for the 18 most indebted developing countries. Much of the forgiven debt was owed to the World Bank.

Two were sections of a 200-level international relations course, while another was a 100-level survey global political issues.

It is easy to save the game state between class periods by groupings properties and cash together with paper clips. There are also ways to speed up the game, such as starting the game with each player holding a monopoly, starting with unequal amounts of money, making no-bid privatization more likely, and holding an auction for each property that is landed on but not purchased (this last suggestion is part of the Monopoly’s official rules, although it may be novel to many players).

Please contact the authors for more details on the survey and its results, as well as helpful materials for having students play the game in class and reflect on it.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin J. Darr

Benjamin J. Darr teaches global politics at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. Dr. Darr earned his PhD from the University of Iowa in 2011, and his research interests include Chinese politics, environmental politics, and global political economy.

Alexander H. Cohen

Alexander H. Cohen obtained his PhD from the University of Iowa in 2012 and currently serves as the Associate Dean of Social Sciences and Humanities at Ashford University. His research interests include using simulations to teach politics, the effect of weather on political outcomes, and zombies. Both authors have used Monopoly in the classroom to engage students with key concepts of political economy and have collaborated to develop an educational variant of the classic game.