MSU professor launches Election Madness game to engage college students in 2024 election

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EAST LANSING, Mich. – Presidential elections are in many ways the Super Bowl of politics or, if football is not your sport, the March Madness of collegiate basketball. Many sports fans make predictions or bets on game results, teams and specific players. 

Like sports, pollsters and pundits have been making predictions about the 2024 election, including key U.S. Senate and U.S. House races that will likely determine which party holds more power in Washington, D.C. To help students learn about the election process, an MSU political science professor devised a clever way for students to engage.

Eric Juenke, associate professor in the Department of Political Science, has launched an election prediction game in which participants make choices in 24 key national races. Juenke first created the game — Election Madness — during the 2020 election with Matt Grossmann, director of MSU’s Institute for Public Policy, and is offering an updated version for the upcoming election. 

“Like in March Madness, we’ve calibrated our favorites and upsets, and sometimes upsets happen — and if that happens, you win (more?) the points,” Juenke said. “These elections were chosen because of interesting dynamics or, at the time, the experts were forecasting these as very close races and we are asking players to choose the winners.”

Election Madness is specifically designed for teachers and instructors to use as a game to play with their students, but anyone is able to participate. Juenke has designed assignments and resources that can be used with students to support the game and its learning goals.

As of mid-September, 80 instructors have said they are using the simulation with more than 4,000 students using the game, including in countries like France and Iceland. The most popular users are professors in higher education from Ivy League schools and international schools to small liberal arts schools and state universities. However, it can also be a good fit for students in high school social studies classrooms.

How Election Madness works

Points are awarded for correct picks and less points are given to candidates who are expected to win. For example, in Michigan’s Senate race, as Rep. Elissa Slotkin is favored over former Rep. Mike Rogers, participants who pick a correct Slotkin win, would receive three points, as opposed to picking a correct Rogers win, which would result in seven points. So there is an element of waging and risk.

Races include the presidential election and key House and Senate races from around the country. Juenke notes on the website how these races were selected for those interested. The cumulative amount of points from the races determines who wins, and players get no points for incorrect selections. 

For those participating, whether individually or as a group (an instructor with their class), picks should be submitted between Oct. 22 and Oct. 29 when a live link will be added to the main page.

Teachers and instructors are encouraged to let Juenke know if they are using the game. There are readily downloadable pools on the website, and closer to Election Day, picks from top U.S. political experts will be added to the website.

“We do not condone betting as this is for educational purposes only; however, I do have some friendly wagers with my colleagues and friends, and this is readily adaptable to a friendly pool” Juenke said (with a grin?). 

The first prediction to make is the congressional race in MSU’s backyard between Tom Barrett and Curtis Hertel, one of the closest races in the country. While the point difference may only be four to six, respectively, if you want to win, a few picks could make all the difference.

Read on MSUToday.  

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